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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 120 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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. tear — from crying
  3. swing — in golf
  4. field — a subject
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. tear — from crying
  7. degree — temperature
  8. field — for sport
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. degree — an amount
  11. field — farmland
  12. swing — music
  13. club — for dancing
  14. hand — help
  15. drill — army training
  16. degree — from a university
  17. hand — in cards
  18. club — for golf
  19. club — a group
  20. pit — in a race
  21. pit — a hole
  22. swing — to play on
  23. drill — a practice
  24. tear — to rip

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