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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. mug — to rob
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. field — for sport
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. kick — in football
  12. hand — help
  13. sharp — clever
  14. hand — in cards
  15. bat — the animal
  16. mug — a cup
  17. field — a subject
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. saw — the tool
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. pitch — completely
  23. mug — a face
  24. saw — the tool

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