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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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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: bowl · wind · net · cue · root · straw · bat · field

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. field — for sport
  4. root — of a word
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. cue — a hint
  8. root — of a plant
  9. cue — for pool
  10. wind — moving air
  11. field — farmland
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. field — a subject
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. net — in sport
  16. cue — a signal
  17. root — the cause
  18. net — after costs
  19. net — for catching
  20. bat — the animal
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. wind — moving air
  24. bat — in an idiom

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