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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: club · tear · straw · field · stem · spell · cabinet · coach

  1. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. stem — to come from
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — to rip
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. club — for dancing
  10. club — for golf
  11. field — farmland
  12. spell — magic
  13. field — for sport
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. tear — from crying
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. field — a subject
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. spell — letters
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. club — a group
  24. coach — a trainer

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