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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 116 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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. field — for sport
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. rest — what's left
  6. game — a match
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. stock — shares
  10. game — wild animals
  11. band — a ring
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. rest — a break
  16. stand — to bear
  17. spell — a short time
  18. rest — what's left
  19. spell — magic
  20. field — a subject
  21. field — farmland
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. stock — goods
  24. spell — letters

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