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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 works in a ________________ mill.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. ground — the earth
  3. content — the amount
  4. content — happy
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. pound — a weight
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. hand — help
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. drill — a practice
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. ground — a position
  13. drill — army training
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. hand — in cards
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. saw — the tool
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. drill — the tool
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. ground — crushed
  24. patient — a sick person

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