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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. cold — not warm
  6. mine — for digging
  7. drill — the tool
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. field — farmland
  10. drill — a practice
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. field — a subject
  16. field — for sport
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. drill — army training
  20. cold — an illness
  21. net — in sport
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. net — after costs
  24. mine — an explosive

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