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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. mate — to breed
  3. drill — army training
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. tear — from crying
  7. degree — an amount
  8. field — farmland
  9. stand — to bear
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. mate — a partner
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. degree — temperature
  14. row — a line
  15. row — to paddle
  16. tear — to rip
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. mate — a friend
  19. drill — the tool
  20. degree — from a university
  21. tear — from crying
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. field — for sport
  24. drill — a practice

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