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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: chest · cabinet · drill · fall · last · field · sharp · game

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. fall — to drop
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. chest — a box
  5. drill — a practice
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. game — a match
  8. last — to go on
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. game — wild animals
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. chest — of your body
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. field — a subject
  15. fall — the season
  16. drill — army training
  17. chest — of your body
  18. field — for sport
  19. drill — the tool
  20. last — final
  21. field — farmland
  22. sharp — clever
  23. fall — to drop
  24. last — finally

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