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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. field — a subject
  3. bulb — for light
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. object — an aim
  7. game — wild animals
  8. march — the month
  9. field — for sport
  10. present — there
  11. present — a gift
  12. march — music
  13. wound — an injury
  14. object — a thing
  15. present — the time now
  16. game — a match
  17. cold — not warm
  18. wound — an injury
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. cold — an illness
  21. field — farmland
  22. bulb — for light
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. march — the month

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