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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: cell · straw · sharp · last · hand · field · stand · spell

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. last — finally
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. hand — help
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. cell — in biology
  7. sharp — clever
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. spell — a short time
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. field — farmland
  13. field — for sport
  14. last — final
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. spell — letters
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. hand — in cards
  19. cell — a phone
  20. spell — magic
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. stand — to bear
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. field — a subject

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