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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 soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. spring — a coil
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. kid — child
  5. fork — in a road
  6. kid — to tease
  7. drill — the tool
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. ball — a great time
  11. present — the time now
  12. spring — of water
  13. game — a match
  14. game — wild animals
  15. drill — a practice
  16. present — there
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. ball — a dance
  19. present — a gift
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. spring — the season
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. trunk — of a car

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