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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: snap · field · plane · drill · sharp · mine

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. sharp — clever
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. snap — to click
  5. field — a subject
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. drill — army training
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. drill — a practice
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. field — for sport
  12. drill — the tool
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. plane — a tool
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. 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