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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 · stem · chest · field · hand · pound · sharp · jam

  1. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. jam — in traffic
  2. field — farmland
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. stem — to come from
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. chest — a box
  9. jam — to spread on bread
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — a subject
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. sharp — clever
  19. chest — of your body
  20. pound — a weight
  21. hand — in cards
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. chest — of your body
  24. hand — help

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