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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. wound — an injury
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. field — for sport
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. mark — a trace
  8. field — a subject
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. bat — the animal
  12. wound — an injury
  13. kid — child
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. kid — to tease
  16. drill — a practice
  17. mark — a grade
  18. drill — army training
  19. drill — the tool
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. sharp — clever
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. bat — in an idiom

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