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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: field · rest · object · straw · club · present

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. 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. rest — a break
  2. field — farmland
  3. club — for golf
  4. object — to protest
  5. field — a subject
  6. club — a group
  7. object — a thing
  8. rest — what's left
  9. club — for dancing
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. present — there
  12. rest — what's left
  13. present — the time now
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. object — an aim
  16. present — a gift
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. 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