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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 116 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. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a part of the sea
  2. net — in sport
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. march — the month
  5. field — for sport
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. game — a match
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. scale — size or range
  10. bat — the animal
  11. march — music
  12. scale — in music
  13. pitch — completely
  14. march — the month
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. net — after costs
  20. field — farmland
  21. game — wild animals
  22. net — for catching
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. field — a subject

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