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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: tube · squash · straw · stick · cell · spell · fall · field

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. squash — the sport
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. squash — to crush
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. spell — letters
  8. spell — magic
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. tube — the underground
  11. cell — a phone
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. tube — a container
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. cell — in biology
  17. fall — to drop
  18. spell — a short time
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. field — farmland
  21. fall — the season
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. field — for sport
  24. field — a subject

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