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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: field · straw · lean · stick · land · squash · stock · band

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. land — a country
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. land — ground
  5. field — a subject
  6. land — to come down
  7. field — farmland
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. squash — to crush
  11. band — a music group
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. lean — to bend
  18. squash — the sport
  19. stock — goods
  20. band — a ring
  21. field — for sport
  22. lean — thin
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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