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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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. game — a match
  3. field — for sport
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. date — the fruit
  6. drill — a practice
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. clip — to cut
  9. cue — a signal
  10. field — a subject
  11. kid — child
  12. game — wild animals
  13. field — farmland
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. clip — a video
  16. kid — to tease
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. cue — for pool
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. drill — the tool
  22. clip — for paper
  23. cue — a hint
  24. snap — to click

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