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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 · file · straw · field · land · ball · cue · bulb

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. lean — to bend
  3. file — a document
  4. file — a tool
  5. land — to come down
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. cue — a hint
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. cue — a signal
  10. file — a line of people
  11. field — farmland
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. land — ground
  14. ball — a great time
  15. ball — a dance
  16. bulb — for light
  17. bulb — for light
  18. lean — thin
  19. field — a subject
  20. cue — for pool
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. land — a country
  23. field — for sport
  24. lean — to rest against

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