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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 · pitcher · date · straw · game · roll · field · coach

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. game — wild animals
  4. field — a subject
  5. game — a match
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. field — for sport
  8. mate — a partner
  9. field — farmland
  10. date — the fruit
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. roll — a list
  13. mate — a friend
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. mate — to breed
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. roll — a cake
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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