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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: straw · field · band · pitch · fan · root · shower · stand

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. field — a subject
  5. root — of a plant
  6. field — for sport
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. band — a ring
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. shower — to wash
  14. stand — to bear
  15. shower — rain
  16. field — farmland
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. pitch — completely
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. root — of a word
  22. root — the cause
  23. band — a music group
  24. stand — on your feet

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