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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 124 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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. mug — a face
  3. field — farmland
  4. bass — the fish
  5. shower — to wash
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. field — a subject
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. rash — hasty
  10. drill — army training
  11. mug — to rob
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. bass — low music
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. mug — a cup
  19. drill — the tool
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. shower — rain
  23. rash — a series
  24. drill — a practice

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