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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: lean · pound · mine · straw · pitcher · field · coach · shower

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. shower — to wash
  6. field — for sport
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. mine — for digging
  10. field — a subject
  11. lean — to bend
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. lean — thin
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. field — farmland
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. shower — rain
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. pound — a weight

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