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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: firm · mark · straw · field · wake · roll · arm · cold

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. field — a subject
  3. field — farmland
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. roll — a cake
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. wake — a trail
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — an illness
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. firm — decided
  13. cold — not warm
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. mark — a grade
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. firm — a company
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. field — for sport
  21. roll — a list
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. mark — a trace
  24. firm — steady

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