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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 120 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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: field · mate · drill · cell · rule · hide

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. mate — a partner
  3. rule — government
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. cell — a phone
  6. drill — a practice
  7. drill — the tool
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. field — for sport
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. rule — a law
  13. cell — in biology
  14. field — farmland
  15. mate — to breed
  16. drill — army training
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. mate — a friend

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