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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 116 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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. cold — not warm
  3. drill — the tool
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. sharp — clever
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. game — wild animals
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. game — a match
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. field — for sport
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. drill — a practice
  15. cold — an illness
  16. field — farmland
  17. chip — to eat
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. drill — army training
  23. chip — for betting
  24. wave — of the sea

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