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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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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: pound · bat · mate · band · cue · straw · field · tear

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  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. band — a rubber band
  2. field — for sport
  3. mate — a friend
  4. field — farmland
  5. tear — from crying
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. cue — for pool
  8. band — a music group
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. cue — a signal
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — to rip
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. mate — a partner
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. mate — to breed
  18. field — a subject
  19. pound — a weight
  20. band — a ring
  21. cue — a hint
  22. bat — in an idiom
  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