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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: bat · field · fan · drill · wake · clip · stand · mate

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. drill — the tool
  3. field — for sport
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. mate — to breed
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. wake — a trail
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. stand — to bear
  13. clip — a video
  14. mate — a partner
  15. drill — army training
  16. clip — to cut
  17. bat — the animal
  18. drill — a practice
  19. field — a subject
  20. clip — for paper
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. mate — a friend
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. field — farmland

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