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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: foot · dip · field · straw · cold · hand · game · bore

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. hand — in cards
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. field — for sport
  8. bore — to tire
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. cold — an illness
  11. game — a match
  12. dip — to sink
  13. game — wild animals
  14. cold — not warm
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. hand — help
  20. field — a subject
  21. field — farmland
  22. bore — to drill
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. foot — a measure

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