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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: wake · drill · field · pitch · saw · content · dip · kid

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. drill — the tool
  5. field — farmland
  6. field — a subject
  7. kid — to tease
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — the tool
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. dip — to sink
  12. wake — a trail
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. field — for sport
  15. pitch — completely
  16. drill — army training
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. drill — a practice
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. content — happy
  23. content — the amount
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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