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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. chest — of your body
  3. net — in sport
  4. net — for catching
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. field — for sport
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. last — final
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. last — finally
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. rock — a stone
  14. rush — hurry
  15. season — of the year
  16. rock — music
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. last — to go on
  19. season — in sport
  20. chest — a box
  21. field — farmland
  22. chest — of your body
  23. field — a subject
  24. net — after costs

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