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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 124 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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: field · squash · tear · wind · drill · degree

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. squash — to crush
  4. field — farmland
  5. squash — the sport
  6. field — for sport
  7. wind — moving air
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. tear — from crying
  10. drill — the tool
  11. field — a subject
  12. drill — army training
  13. degree — an amount
  14. wind — moving air
  15. degree — temperature
  16. drill — a practice
  17. degree — from a university
  18. tear — to rip

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