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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. mark — a trace
  3. wind — moving air
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. field — a subject
  7. bat — the animal
  8. field — farmland
  9. pop — to visit
  10. spring — of water
  11. net — in sport
  12. wind — moving air
  13. mark — a grade
  14. net — after costs
  15. spring — the season
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. field — for sport
  20. pop — soda
  21. spring — a coil
  22. net — for catching
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. pop — 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