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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: tube · saw · plane · pitcher · drill · field · clip · chest

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. field — a subject
  3. chest — of your body
  4. drill — army training
  5. drill — the tool
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. drill — a practice
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. plane — a tool
  11. chest — of your body
  12. clip — a video
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. chest — a box
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. saw — the tool
  17. field — farmland
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. tube — a container
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. clip — for paper
  22. tube — the underground
  23. saw — the tool
  24. clip — to cut

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