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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 need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. field — for sport
  3. drill — army training
  4. hand — help
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. staff — employees
  8. press — a publisher
  9. content — happy
  10. press — newspapers
  11. press — to push
  12. game — wild animals
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. content — the amount
  15. drill — a practice
  16. game — a match
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. staff — a stick
  19. field — a subject
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. hand — in cards
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. staff — employees
  24. field — farmland

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