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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. game — a match
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. fall — the season
  6. mug — a face
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. fall — to drop
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. fall — to drop
  11. field — farmland
  12. chest — a box
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. field — a subject
  15. chest — of your body
  16. game — wild animals
  17. spell — magic
  18. mug — a cup
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. plane — a tool
  21. chest — of your body
  22. spell — a short time
  23. mug — to rob
  24. spell — letters

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