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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: ball · snap · straw · mine · stick · fall · squash · field

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. fall — to drop
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. squash — to crush
  5. fall — to drop
  6. field — farmland
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. squash — the sport
  9. mine — for digging
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. snap — to click
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. field — a subject
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. ball — a dance
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. fall — the season
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. ball — a great time
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. field — for sport

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