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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: field · ball · mug · straw · race · drill · saw · wind

  1. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. ball — a great time
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. wind — moving air
  5. drill — the tool
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. field — for sport
  8. mug — a cup
  9. field — farmland
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. race — a contest
  12. saw — the tool
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. race — the arms race
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. mug — a face
  17. field — a subject
  18. wind — moving air
  19. drill — a practice
  20. mug — to rob
  21. race — humankind
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. ball — a dance
  24. drill — army training

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