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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. row — a line
  4. rash — a series
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. pass — a permit
  7. band — a ring
  8. mark — a trace
  9. wound — an injury
  10. field — farmland
  11. row — to paddle
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. spring — of water
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. field — a subject
  16. band — a music group
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. wound — an injury
  19. spring — the season
  20. mark — a grade
  21. rash — hasty
  22. field — for sport
  23. spring — a coil
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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