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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. last — final
  5. field — for sport
  6. band — a music group
  7. band — a ring
  8. pass — a permit
  9. march — music
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. last — finally
  12. march — the month
  13. root — of a plant
  14. bore — to tire
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. rush — hurry
  17. field — a subject
  18. march — the month
  19. bore — to drill
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. root — of a word
  22. last — to go on
  23. root — the cause
  24. pass — to spend time

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com