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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. pound — a weight
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. field — for sport
  5. ground — crushed
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. field — farmland
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. squash — the sport
  10. mine — for digging
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. squash — to crush
  14. bear — the animal
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. ground — a position
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. bear — the animal
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. field — a subject
  22. bat — the animal
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. ground — the earth

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