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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: safe · cell · mine · swing · bark · coach · straw · field

  1. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. field — a subject
  3. field — for sport
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. swing — in golf
  6. cell — a phone
  7. safe — a strongbox
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. field — farmland
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. bark — to shout
  14. cell — in biology
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. swing — to play on
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. mine — for digging
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. swing — music

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