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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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468
Word bank
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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. drill — army training
  3. kid — to tease
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. field — farmland
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. fall — the season
  8. drill — the tool
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. fall — to drop
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. drill — a practice
  16. bark — to shout
  17. field — for sport
  18. fall — to drop
  19. field — a subject
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. kid — child
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. bark — of a tree

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