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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: drill · present · court · toast · field · shower · pass · cold

  1. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. shower — to wash
  3. drill — a practice
  4. pass — a permit
  5. field — farmland
  6. court — for sport
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. field — for sport
  9. shower — rain
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. cold — an illness
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. present — there
  14. present — a gift
  15. drill — the tool
  16. court — of law
  17. field — a subject
  18. toast — bread
  19. drill — army training
  20. court — of a king
  21. cold — not warm
  22. toast — a drink to someone
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. pass — to succeed

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