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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  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. fan — to cool the air
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. can — to be able to
  5. stand — to bear
  6. foot — a measure
  7. band — a ring
  8. mine — for digging
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. band — a music group
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. field — farmland
  13. can — a tin
  14. field — a subject
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. can — a tin
  23. mine — belonging to me
  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