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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. field — a subject
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. wind — moving air
  6. saw — the tool
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. field — for sport
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. mug — a cup
  11. wound — an injury
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. tube — the underground
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. tube — a container
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. mug — to rob
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. saw — the tool
  21. mug — a face
  22. field — farmland
  23. wound — an injury
  24. nail — for a hammer

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