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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. net — for catching
  3. bass — the fish
  4. field — a subject
  5. row — a line
  6. net — after costs
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. bass — low music
  10. field — for sport
  11. ground — a position
  12. drill — the tool
  13. drill — army training
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. row — to paddle
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. field — farmland
  18. net — in sport
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. ground — the earth
  21. drill — a practice
  22. safe — a strongbox
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. ground — crushed

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