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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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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: staff · straw · field · hide · drill · pit

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. field — for sport
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. drill — army training
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. drill — the tool
  7. drill — a practice
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. field — farmland
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. pit — in a race
  12. staff — employees
  13. field — a subject
  14. staff — a stick
  15. staff — employees
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. pit — a hole

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