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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. field — for sport
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. cold — not warm
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. drill — the tool
  9. drill — a practice
  10. club — for dancing
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. club — for golf
  14. field — farmland
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. squash — to crush
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. field — a subject
  21. squash — the sport
  22. cold — an illness
  23. club — a group
  24. calf — a young animal

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