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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: bowl · chest · march · pop · roll · straw · field · jam

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. march — music
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. chest — of your body
  7. pop — soda
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. chest — a box
  10. roll — a list
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. march — the month
  13. field — a subject
  14. pop — music
  15. chest — of your body
  16. roll — a cake
  17. march — the month
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. field — farmland
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. pop — to visit
  24. field — for sport

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