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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 120 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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. land — ground
  3. cold — an illness
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. pound — a weight
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. field — for sport
  8. ball — a dance
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. squash — the sport
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. field — a subject
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. land — to come down
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. ball — a great time
  23. squash — to crush
  24. land — a country

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