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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. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  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 — the tool
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. capital — money
  5. degree — from a university
  6. field — a subject
  7. stand — to bear
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. drill — a practice
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. degree — temperature
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. degree — an amount
  16. wake — a trail
  17. field — farmland
  18. capital — a city
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. march — the month
  21. march — the month
  22. field — for sport
  23. march — music
  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