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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. ball — a great time
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. field — a subject
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. ball — a dance
  11. saw — the tool
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. degree — an amount
  15. rush — hurry
  16. degree — temperature
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. saw — the tool
  19. degree — from a university
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. field — for sport
  24. straw — a straw man

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