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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: season · pitcher · straw · field · date · spell · cap · chair

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. spell — letters
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. field — farmland
  8. cap — a lid
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. cap — a hat
  11. date — the fruit
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. season — in sport
  14. spell — a short time
  15. field — a subject
  16. spell — magic
  17. cap — of ice
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. season — of the year
  22. chair — a leader
  23. field — for sport
  24. chair — a professorship

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