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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. march — the month
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. field — farmland
  10. ball — a dance
  11. clip — to cut
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. clip — for paper
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. field — for sport
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. march — music
  18. ball — a great time
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. clip — a video
  21. pitch — completely
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. march — the month
  24. nail — for a hammer

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