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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 had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  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. drill — a practice
  2. mark — a grade
  3. lie — to recline
  4. field — a subject
  5. hand — help
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. field — for sport
  8. key — the most important part
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — an injury
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. hand — in cards
  13. drill — the tool
  14. mark — a trace
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. key — in music
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. mine — for digging
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. key — for a lock
  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