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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. field — a subject
  3. game — wild animals
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. field — for sport
  8. kid — to tease
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. game — a match
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. kid — child
  13. field — farmland
  14. sharp — clever
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. press — to push
  18. drill — army training
  19. press — a publisher
  20. shower — to wash
  21. drill — a practice
  22. press — newspapers
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. drill — 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