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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. cold — an illness
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. ground — the earth
  7. ground — crushed
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. field — farmland
  11. key — the most important part
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. net — after costs
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. net — in sport
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. field — for sport
  20. ground — a position
  21. key — in music
  22. net — for catching
  23. field — a subject
  24. key — for a lock

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