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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: saw · fan · pound · cold · arm · drill · field · pit

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. pound — a weight
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. field — farmland
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. cold — an illness
  7. saw — the tool
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. drill — a practice
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. field — for sport
  14. drill — the tool
  15. saw — the tool
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. pit — a hole
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. pit — in a race
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. field — a subject
  22. drill — army training
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. arm — part of the body

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