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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 King held a masked ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. pitch — completely
  3. field — for sport
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. chair — a leader
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. ball — a great time
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. scale — size or range
  13. field — farmland
  14. scale — in music
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. date — the fruit
  17. field — a subject
  18. ball — a round shape

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