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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 120 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: present · straw · charge · field · spring · game · coach · nail

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. present — a gift
  4. spring — the season
  5. game — a match
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. field — a subject
  9. charge — a price
  10. charge — electricity
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. field — farmland
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. charge — in control
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. game — wild animals
  19. present — there
  20. present — the time now
  21. spring — a coil
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. spring — of water

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