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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: straw · field · pitcher · land · tear · bat · stand · track

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. field — for sport
  3. tear — from crying
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. field — a subject
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. stand — to bear
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. bat — the animal
  13. track — a path
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. land — a country
  16. field — farmland
  17. tear — to rip
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. track — to keep track
  20. track — a song
  21. land — to come down
  22. land — ground
  23. tear — from crying
  24. stand — on your feet

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