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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 120 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: straw · scale · fine · field · march · sharp · shower · chair

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. field — a subject
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. fine — high quality
  5. shower — to wash
  6. field — for sport
  7. chair — a leader
  8. shower — rain
  9. march — music
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. march — the month
  13. march — the month
  14. field — farmland
  15. scale — size or range
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. scale — in music
  18. fine — all right
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. sharp — clever
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. sharp — exactly

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