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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. drill — a practice
  4. drill — the tool
  5. cap — a lid
  6. sharp — clever
  7. shower — rain
  8. field — for sport
  9. row — to paddle
  10. field — farmland
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. plane — a tool
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. shower — to wash
  17. row — a line
  18. field — a subject
  19. cap — of ice
  20. drill — army training
  21. saw — the tool
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. cap — a hat
  24. row — a quarrel

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