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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: straw · race · mate · field · bound · ball · rule · lean

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. lean — to bend
  3. race — a contest
  4. field — for sport
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. race — the arms race
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. ball — a great time
  10. lean — thin
  11. bound — obliged
  12. bound — certain
  13. field — a subject
  14. rule — government
  15. race — humankind
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. mate — a friend
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. ball — a dance
  21. mate — to breed
  22. bound — tied together
  23. mate — a partner
  24. field — farmland

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