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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. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. calf — of the leg
  2. field — for sport
  3. drill — army training
  4. wind — moving air
  5. root — of a word
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. game — a match
  8. drill — a practice
  9. game — wild animals
  10. wind — moving air
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. wound — an injury
  14. field — a subject
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. drill — the tool
  17. root — of a plant
  18. root — the cause
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. field — farmland
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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