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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 116 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: rest · present · field · mine · perch · land · straw · tube

  1. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — to clutch at straws
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. perch — the fish
  4. rest — what's left
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. field — farmland
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. land — a country
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. present — a gift
  13. land — to come down
  14. rest — what's left
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. rest — a break
  17. tube — the underground
  18. present — the time now
  19. present — there
  20. tube — a container
  21. field — for sport
  22. land — ground
  23. mine — for digging
  24. field — a subject

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