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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: row · present · mine · field · date · straw · jam · ball

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. ball — a great time
  3. field — a subject
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. present — there
  6. date — the fruit
  7. field — farmland
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. present — the time now
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. row — to paddle
  12. ball — a dance
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. present — a gift
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. field — for sport
  21. jam — to spread on bread
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. mine — for digging

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