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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: cabinet · pound · straw · stick · march · ground · kid · field

  1. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. ground — crushed
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. march — the month
  6. ground — a position
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. field — a subject
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. march — the month
  13. ground — the earth
  14. field — for sport
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. pound — a weight
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. field — farmland
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. march — music
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. kid — to tease
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. kid — child

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