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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: court · mine · bark · mug · game · lean · field · straw

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. field — farmland
  4. field — for sport
  5. mug — a face
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. game — a match
  10. field — a subject
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. court — for sport
  14. mug — to rob
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. mine — for digging
  17. court — of a king
  18. lean — to bend
  19. bark — to shout
  20. game — wild animals
  21. lean — thin
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. mug — a cup
  24. court — of law

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