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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: fork · field · bay · object · content · rash · straw · last

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. last — final
  3. content — the amount
  4. last — to go on
  5. last — finally
  6. object — a thing
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. field — a subject
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. field — farmland
  11. content — happy
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. rash — a series
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. rash — hasty
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. field — for sport
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. object — an aim
  23. fork — in a road
  24. straw — dry grass

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