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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 116 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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. craft — boats
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. field — farmland
  5. rest — a break
  6. bass — the fish
  7. bass — low music
  8. pop — to visit
  9. pop — music
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. rest — what's left
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — moving air
  14. drill — a practice
  15. field — a subject
  16. pop — soda
  17. drill — army training
  18. craft — a skill
  19. rest — what's left
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. field — for sport

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