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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  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. field — for sport
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. squash — to crush
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. field — farmland
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. roll — a list
  10. roll — a cake
  11. ground — a position
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. squash — the sport
  14. ground — crushed
  15. net — after costs
  16. net — in sport
  17. net — for catching
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. drill — a practice
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. ground — the earth
  22. drill — army training
  23. field — a subject
  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