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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: mate · kid · field · firm · pop · stock · chest · straw

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. stock — shares
  3. pop — music
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. chest — of your body
  6. field — for sport
  7. firm — steady
  8. field — farmland
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. chest — of your body
  11. pop — to visit
  12. mate — a partner
  13. field — a subject
  14. chest — a box
  15. mate — to breed
  16. stock — goods
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. pop — soda
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. mate — a friend
  21. firm — a company
  22. kid — child
  23. kid — to tease
  24. firm — decided

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