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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. net — after costs
  4. land — to come down
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. land — a country
  9. net — for catching
  10. net — in sport
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. field — a subject
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. pass — a permit
  16. field — for sport
  17. field — farmland
  18. pitcher — a jug

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