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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: pitcher · clip · mark · straw · object · temple · fan · field

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. field — for sport
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. mark — a trace
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. clip — to cut
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. mark — a grade
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. object — to protest
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. object — a thing
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. clip — a video
  21. object — an aim
  22. clip — for paper
  23. field — a subject
  24. fan — a supporter

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