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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. field — a subject
  3. field — farmland
  4. land — a country
  5. chest — of your body
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. chest — a box
  8. bass — the fish
  9. pass — a permit
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. shower — to wash
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. land — ground
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. chest — of your body
  16. bass — low music
  17. shower — rain
  18. land — to come down

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