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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · chair · fan · object · mine · date · drill · season

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. drill — army training
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. object — to protest
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. object — an aim
  9. field — a subject
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. field — for sport
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. mine — for digging
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. season — of the year
  16. chair — a leader
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. date — the fruit
  19. field — farmland
  20. drill — the tool
  21. drill — a practice
  22. object — a thing
  23. season — in sport
  24. chair — to sit on

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