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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 120 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: straw · field · wave · stick · band · pit · wind · land

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. land — to come down
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. field — for sport
  8. band — a music group
  9. band — a ring
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. field — farmland
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. land — a country
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. pit — a hole
  16. wind — moving air
  17. field — a subject
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. pit — in a race
  20. land — ground
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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