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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: cold · vault · lean · straw · pitcher · field · wake · bound

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. lean — thin
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. bound — obliged
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. lean — to bend
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. bound — tied together
  14. field — a subject
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. vault — a safe
  20. wake — a trail
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. bound — certain
  23. field — farmland
  24. straw — a straw man

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