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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: mine · clip · drill · object · field · content · rock · ground

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. field — a subject
  3. drill — the tool
  4. rock — music
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. clip — a video
  7. content — the amount
  8. field — farmland
  9. drill — a practice
  10. rock — a stone
  11. clip — for paper
  12. mine — for digging
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. content — happy
  15. clip — to cut
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. ground — crushed
  19. object — to protest
  20. field — for sport
  21. object — an aim
  22. object — a thing
  23. drill — army training
  24. ground — a position

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