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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: season · bass · field · perch · drill · tube · wound · safe

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. season — in sport
  3. wound — an injury
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. tube — the underground
  8. wound — an injury
  9. drill — army training
  10. drill — the tool
  11. field — for sport
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. bass — low music
  14. perch — the fish
  15. bass — the fish
  16. field — a subject
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. safe — a strongbox
  21. season — of the year
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. tube — a container
  24. drill — a practice

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