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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 120 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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. field — a subject
  7. saw — the tool
  8. mine — for digging
  9. field — farmland
  10. cue — a hint
  11. saw — the tool
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. root — of a plant
  14. bank — for money
  15. field — for sport
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. bank — for money
  18. cue — for pool
  19. bank — of a river
  20. cue — a signal
  21. root — of a word
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. root — the cause
  24. mine — an explosive

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