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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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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: straw · kick · wind · drill · pound · field · rock · spring

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. kick — in football
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. drill — the tool
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. field — farmland
  7. wind — moving air
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. spring — the season
  15. pound — a weight
  16. field — for sport
  17. wind — moving air
  18. spring — a coil
  19. rock — music
  20. rock — a stone
  21. drill — army training
  22. drill — a practice
  23. field — a subject
  24. spring — of water

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