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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. perch — the fish
  7. hand — in cards
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. field — farmland
  10. saw — the tool
  11. field — for sport
  12. drill — a practice
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. drill — the tool
  15. saw — the tool
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. plane — a tool
  18. hand — help
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. drill — army training
  21. field — a subject
  22. kick — in football
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. plane — an aircraft

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