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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 116 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 · bat · calf · bound · rock · straw · perch · clip

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. bat — the animal
  3. field — farmland
  4. rock — music
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. field — a subject
  7. perch — the fish
  8. bound — certain
  9. bound — obliged
  10. clip — for paper
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. rock — a stone
  15. bound — tied together
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. clip — a video
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. clip — to cut
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. straw — a straw man

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