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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: drill · bound · wake · hand · straw · fork · bay · field

  1. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — to keep at bay
  2. field — farmland
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. hand — help
  6. field — a subject
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. bound — tied together
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. drill — army training
  13. wake — a trail
  14. bound — obliged
  15. bound — certain
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. fork — in a road
  20. hand — in cards
  21. field — for sport
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. drill — the tool
  24. drill — a practice

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