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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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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: bound · perch · drill · cell · band · cap · field · squash

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. field — a subject
  3. band — a music group
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. squash — the sport
  6. field — for sport
  7. bound — obliged
  8. drill — army training
  9. drill — a practice
  10. bound — certain
  11. squash — to crush
  12. cell — in biology
  13. cap — of ice
  14. cap — a lid
  15. perch — the fish
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. cap — a hat
  20. bound — tied together
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. band — a ring
  23. drill — the tool
  24. cell — a phone

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