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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. fall — the season
  3. bass — the fish
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. fall — to drop
  6. bass — low music
  7. drill — a practice
  8. current — of water
  9. fall — to drop
  10. pop — music
  11. march — the month
  12. march — the month
  13. pop — to visit
  14. fork — in a road
  15. march — music
  16. current — happening now
  17. field — a subject
  18. drill — army training
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. field — for sport
  21. pop — soda
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. current — electric
  24. field — farmland

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