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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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. drill — a practice
  4. march — the month
  5. bore — to drill
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. tear — from crying
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. tear — to rip
  10. field — a subject
  11. field — for sport
  12. march — the month
  13. drill — army training
  14. tube — the underground
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. field — farmland
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. drill — the tool
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tube — a container
  22. bore — to tire
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. march — music

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