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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. field — a subject
  5. band — a music group
  6. can — a tin
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. can — a tin
  10. field — for sport
  11. can — to be able to
  12. season — in sport
  13. root — of a word
  14. clip — to cut
  15. band — a ring
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. season — of the year
  18. clip — for paper
  19. pitch — completely
  20. root — the cause
  21. root — of a plant
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. clip — a video
  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