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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 120 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: cold · game · bore · pitcher · saw · field · fork · pop

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. bore — to tire
  3. fork — in a road
  4. pop — music
  5. saw — the tool
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. field — farmland
  8. pop — to visit
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. saw — the tool
  11. game — a match
  12. cold — not warm
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. cold — an illness
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. bore — to drill
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. field — for sport
  23. game — wild animals
  24. pop — soda

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