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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 · field · ball · chair · net · shower · spell · straw

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. spell — letters
  3. field — farmland
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. lean — to bend
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. net — in sport
  8. spell — magic
  9. spell — a short time
  10. chair — a leader
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. ball — a dance
  14. lean — thin
  15. ball — a great time
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. net — after costs
  18. net — for catching
  19. shower — rain
  20. field — a subject
  21. field — for sport
  22. shower — to wash
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. chair — to sit on

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