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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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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 · fork · pound · lie · straw · degree · clip · staff

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. staff — employees
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. field — farmland
  5. staff — a stick
  6. clip — for paper
  7. staff — employees
  8. pound — a weight
  9. fork — in a road
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. degree — an amount
  13. clip — a video
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. lie — to recline
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. degree — from a university
  19. degree — temperature
  20. clip — to cut
  21. field — a subject
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. field — for sport
  24. fork — a garden tool

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