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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: field · pitch · band · straw · calf · arm · tube · wind

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. wind — moving air
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. field — a subject
  5. tube — the underground
  6. tube — a container
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. band — a ring
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. wind — moving air
  14. field — for sport
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. field — farmland
  20. band — a music group
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. pitch — completely
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. calf — a young animal

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