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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. sharp — clever
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. pop — soda
  5. field — a subject
  6. saw — the tool
  7. march — music
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. pop — to visit
  11. mine — for digging
  12. last — finally
  13. field — for sport
  14. march — the month
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. march — the month
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. last — to go on
  20. pop — music
  21. last — final
  22. saw — the tool
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. mine — belonging to me

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