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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: field · land · board · fork · bowl · pass · cold · drill

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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. land — to come down
  4. fork — in a road
  5. cold — an illness
  6. land — a country
  7. board — to get on
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. land — ground
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. drill — a practice
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. pass — a permit
  14. cold — not warm
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. field — for sport
  18. drill — army training
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. board — a committee
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. drill — the tool
  24. cold — the Cold War

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