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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 · rock · squash · straw · root · bass · tube · race

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. tube — the underground
  3. field — for sport
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. race — a contest
  7. bass — low music
  8. race — the arms race
  9. root — of a plant
  10. bass — the fish
  11. field — farmland
  12. squash — to crush
  13. rock — a stone
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. field — a subject
  16. tube — a container
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. squash — the sport
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. root — of a word
  22. rock — music
  23. race — humankind
  24. root — the cause

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