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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: bay · stick · straw · chest · field · clip · bowl · hand

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. chest — of your body
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. chest — a box
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. hand — help
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. clip — a video
  15. hand — in cards
  16. field — a subject
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. clip — to cut
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. field — farmland
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. field — for sport
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. clip — for paper

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