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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. file — a line of people
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. field — for sport
  5. ball — a great time
  6. land — to come down
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. rush — hurry
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. file — a document
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. land — a country
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. land — ground
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. file — a tool
  20. ball — a dance
  21. mine — for digging
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. field — farmland

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