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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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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: toast · fall · cell · plane · pound · field · dip · straw

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. toast — bread
  5. pound — a weight
  6. fall — the season
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. fall — to drop
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. field — for sport
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. field — a subject
  13. cell — a phone
  14. cell — in biology
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. dip — to sink
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. field — farmland
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. fall — to drop
  24. plane — a 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