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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: straw · squash · bore · mine · field · game · file · arm

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. file — a line of people
  3. mine — for digging
  4. field — a subject
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. field — farmland
  8. squash — to crush
  9. field — for sport
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. file — a document
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. bore — to tire
  14. bore — to drill
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. game — a match
  18. file — a tool
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. squash — the sport
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. mine — belonging to me

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