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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  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. drill — army training
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. land — a country
  4. race — the arms race
  5. hand — help
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. hand — in cards
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. tube — the underground
  11. tube — a container
  12. drill — the tool
  13. race — humankind
  14. land — ground
  15. wake — a trail
  16. race — a contest
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. drill — a practice
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. land — to come down
  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