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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 116 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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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: stand · key · kick · field · wave · cap · straw · cold

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cap — of ice
  7. cap — a lid
  8. kick — in football
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. field — farmland
  11. key — for a lock
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. field — a subject
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. stand — to bear
  17. key — the most important part
  18. field — for sport
  19. cold — not warm
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. key — in music
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. kick — with a leg

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