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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. squash — the sport
  3. mine — for digging
  4. field — a subject
  5. squash — to crush
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. band — a ring
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. bark — to shout
  18. field — farmland
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. band — a music group
  24. stand — to bear

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