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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 120 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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. band — a music group
  3. field — for sport
  4. band — a ring
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. capital — money
  7. field — farmland
  8. spring — a coil
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. cue — for pool
  14. cue — a signal
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. spring — of water
  17. field — a subject
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. cue — a hint
  20. spring — the season
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. capital — a city

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