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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. bass — the fish
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. drill — a practice
  6. field — a subject
  7. rush — hurry
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. season — of the year
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. wound — an injury
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. field — for sport
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. drill — army training
  16. wound — an injury
  17. kick — in football
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. bass — low music
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. season — in sport
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. field — farmland

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