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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. shower — to wash
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. bass — the fish
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. bass — low music
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. field — a subject
  10. field — farmland
  11. drill — the tool
  12. game — wild animals
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. drill — army training
  15. bore — to tire
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. game — a match
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. bore — to drill
  22. shower — rain
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. drill — a practice

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