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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 · safe · cold · field · spring · squash · toast · chair

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. field — for sport
  3. chair — a leader
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. spring — the season
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. field — farmland
  9. toast — bread
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. field — a subject
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. spring — a coil
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. cold — not warm
  16. spring — of water
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. squash — the sport
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. safe — a strongbox
  23. cold — an illness
  24. squash — the vegetable

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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