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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. field — farmland
  3. mate — a partner
  4. hand — help
  5. rash — hasty
  6. bound — tied together
  7. content — the amount
  8. rash — a series
  9. swing — music
  10. hand — in cards
  11. field — for sport
  12. drill — a practice
  13. content — happy
  14. field — a subject
  15. swing — to play on
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. drill — the tool
  18. mate — a friend
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. bound — obliged
  21. bound — certain
  22. swing — in golf
  23. mate — to breed
  24. rash — on the skin

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