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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 116 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.

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: hand · game · root · drill · saw · kid · file · field

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. saw — the tool
  3. hand — help
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. file — a document
  6. hand — in cards
  7. file — a tool
  8. kid — child
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. game — wild animals
  11. drill — a practice
  12. field — farmland
  13. root — the cause
  14. root — of a word
  15. field — for sport
  16. saw — the tool
  17. field — a subject
  18. game — a match
  19. drill — the tool
  20. file — a line of people
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. root — of a plant
  24. kid — to tease

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