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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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Word bank
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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: lean · mine · straw · pitcher · field · bat · degree · safe

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. degree — from a university
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. lean — to bend
  8. mine — for digging
  9. bat — the animal
  10. degree — an amount
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. field — a subject
  15. degree — temperature
  16. field — for sport
  17. field — farmland
  18. safe — a strongbox
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. lean — thin
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. mine — an explosive

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