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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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. mine — for digging
  4. bore — to drill
  5. last — final
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. season — of the year
  9. drill — a practice
  10. saw — the tool
  11. season — in sport
  12. field — a subject
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. drill — the tool
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. last — finally
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. saw — the tool
  19. bore — to tire
  20. fork — in a road
  21. field — for sport
  22. last — to go on
  23. field — farmland
  24. drill — army training

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