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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. drill — army training
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. field — a subject
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. spell — a short time
  8. hand — in cards
  9. drill — the tool
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. squash — to crush
  13. dip — to sink
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. field — for sport
  16. drill — a practice
  17. fork — in a road
  18. spell — letters
  19. spell — magic
  20. hand — help
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. squash — the sport
  24. straw — dry grass

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