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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.

Make a worksheet

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
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. row — a line
  6. game — wild animals
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. field — farmland
  10. row — to paddle
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. field — for sport
  13. game — a match
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. field — a subject
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. straw — to clutch at straws

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