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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: firm · ground · straw · field · clip · rash · hand · bound

  1. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. firm — a company
  3. bound — obliged
  4. hand — in cards
  5. bound — tied together
  6. ground — a position
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. ground — crushed
  9. firm — decided
  10. field — a subject
  11. firm — steady
  12. field — farmland
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. hand — help
  15. rash — hasty
  16. ground — the earth
  17. clip — to cut
  18. bound — certain
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. clip — a video
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. clip — for paper
  23. rash — a series
  24. field — for sport

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