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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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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. court — for sport
  3. field — for sport
  4. court — of a king
  5. lean — thin
  6. roll — a list
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. land — ground
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. can — to be able to
  12. bank — for money
  13. roll — a cake
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. can — a tin
  17. bank — of a river
  18. bank — for money
  19. land — a country
  20. field — farmland
  21. field — a subject
  22. lean — to bend
  23. court — of law
  24. land — to come down

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