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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: rash · cold · straw · rock · leaves · field · fall · key

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. rash — a series
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. field — farmland
  8. rock — music
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. key — for a lock
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. field — for sport
  14. fall — to drop
  15. rock — a stone
  16. fall — the season
  17. field — a subject
  18. key — the most important part
  19. rash — hasty
  20. cold — an illness
  21. fall — to drop
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. key — in music
  24. leaves — to go away

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