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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. field — a subject
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. drill — army training
  7. saw — the tool
  8. fine — high quality
  9. kid — child
  10. field — for sport
  11. stand — to bear
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. kid — to tease
  14. drill — the tool
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. spring — a coil
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. field — farmland
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. drill — a practice
  22. spring — of water
  23. spring — the season
  24. saw — the tool

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