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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: field · root · cap · ball · pitcher · season · mine · straw

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. ball — a great time
  3. field — farmland
  4. ball — a dance
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. mine — for digging
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. field — for sport
  11. root — the cause
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. season — in sport
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. season — of the year
  17. field — a subject
  18. root — of a word
  19. cap — a hat
  20. root — of a plant
  21. cap — of ice
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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