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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. mate — a partner
  4. race — a contest
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. race — humankind
  7. pitch — completely
  8. mate — to breed
  9. march — the month
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. mate — a friend
  14. kid — to tease
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. field — for sport
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. race — the arms race
  20. march — the month
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. kid — child
  23. field — a subject
  24. march — music

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