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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. band — a music group
  3. cue — a hint
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. key — in music
  6. key — the most important part
  7. season — in sport
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. bound — tied together
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. cue — a signal
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. bound — obliged
  14. key — for a lock
  15. band — a ring
  16. cue — for pool
  17. wind — moving air
  18. bound — certain
  19. wind — moving air
  20. season — of the year
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. field — a subject
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. field — for sport

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