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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.

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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: straw · rash · drill · mine · wound · rush · pop · field

  1. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. field — for sport
  4. drill — the tool
  5. pop — to visit
  6. rash — a series
  7. rush — hurry
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. wound — an injury
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. pop — soda
  14. drill — a practice
  15. drill — army training
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. pop — music
  18. mine — for digging
  19. rash — hasty
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. field — farmland
  22. field — a subject
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. wound — an injury

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