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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: wind · mine · present · drill · straw · game · key · patient

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. key — in music
  3. present — the time now
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — moving air
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. game — a match
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. drill — army training
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. present — there
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. key — for a lock
  18. present — a gift
  19. drill — a practice
  20. key — the most important part
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. drill — the tool
  23. game — wild animals
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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