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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. fall — the season
  3. field — a subject
  4. drill — a practice
  5. net — for catching
  6. chest — a box
  7. land — to come down
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. chest — of your body
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. drill — army training
  13. net — in sport
  14. field — for sport
  15. land — a country
  16. band — a music group
  17. fall — to drop
  18. band — a ring
  19. drill — the tool
  20. fall — to drop
  21. field — farmland
  22. net — after costs
  23. land — ground
  24. pass — a permit

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