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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. saw — the tool
  3. swing — to play on
  4. scale — in music
  5. field — a subject
  6. drill — a practice
  7. field — for sport
  8. spell — a short time
  9. swing — music
  10. swing — in golf
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. pound — a weight
  13. scale — size or range
  14. spell — magic
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. saw — the tool
  18. drill — army training
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. spell — letters
  21. field — farmland
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. rash — a series
  24. drill — the tool

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