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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: pitcher · drill · field · staff · wind · content · sharp · roll

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. staff — employees
  5. wind — moving air
  6. roll — a list
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. wind — moving air
  9. field — farmland
  10. staff — a stick
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. content — happy
  13. field — for sport
  14. drill — the tool
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. sharp — clever
  17. roll — a cake
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. drill — a practice
  21. content — the amount
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. drill — army training
  24. field — a subject

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