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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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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: cell · mate · field · last · drill · stand

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. last — to go on
  3. mate — to breed
  4. field — farmland
  5. field — for sport
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. mate — a partner
  8. stand — to bear
  9. mate — a friend
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. last — final
  12. last — finally
  13. cell — a phone
  14. cell — in biology
  15. drill — a practice
  16. field — a subject
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. drill — the tool

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