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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 120 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: field · root · pass · pitcher · bowl · kick · cold · straw

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. pass — a permit
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. cold — not warm
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. root — of a word
  16. cold — an illness
  17. field — farmland
  18. kick — in football
  19. field — a subject
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. field — for sport
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. root — of a plant
  24. root — the cause

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