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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: straw · roll · wax · cap · fine · field · can · row

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  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. fine — all right
  2. can — to be able to
  3. roll — a cake
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. cap — a lid
  6. cap — a hat
  7. can — a tin
  8. fine — high quality
  9. field — a subject
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. can — a tin
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. row — a line
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. wax — to grow
  18. row — to paddle
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. cap — of ice
  21. roll — a list
  22. field — farmland
  23. field — for sport
  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