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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: wind · field · straw · rest · bark · board · cabinet · game

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. field — farmland
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. wind — moving air
  7. field — for sport
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. rest — a break
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. game — wild animals
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. game — a match
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. board — a committee
  16. wind — moving air
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. rest — what's left
  19. field — a subject
  20. bark — to shout
  21. board — to get on
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. rest — what's left
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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