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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. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. pop — to visit
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. field — for sport
  7. plane — a tool
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. cold — an illness
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. bank — for money
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. mine — for digging
  15. field — farmland
  16. pop — music
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bank — of a river
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. bore — to tire
  21. pop — soda
  22. field — a subject
  23. bore — to drill
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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