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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. bore — to drill
  4. cell — a phone
  5. last — finally
  6. mate — a partner
  7. stand — to bear
  8. last — final
  9. drill — a practice
  10. pop — music
  11. field — for sport
  12. mate — to breed
  13. field — a subject
  14. drill — the tool
  15. field — farmland
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. drill — army training
  19. mate — a friend
  20. cell — in biology
  21. bore — to tire
  22. last — to go on
  23. pop — soda
  24. stand — on your feet

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