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

Word bank: bark · field · straw · kid · pitch · ruler · stick · mine

  1. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. bark — to shout
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. field — farmland
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. kid — to tease
  8. mine — for digging
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. ruler — a monarch
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. pitch — completely
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. kid — child
  21. field — for sport
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. field — a subject
  24. ruler — for measuring

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