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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 120 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
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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: present · spell · nail · game · mark · straw · cold · field

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. mark — a grade
  4. cold — an illness
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — not warm
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. mark — a trace
  13. spell — magic
  14. game — wild animals
  15. present — there
  16. spell — letters
  17. field — for sport
  18. spell — a short time
  19. field — farmland
  20. present — a gift
  21. field — a subject
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. present — the time now
  24. nail — on a finger

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