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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. field — for sport
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. field — a subject
  6. pop — to visit
  7. kid — child
  8. firm — a company
  9. firm — steady
  10. pitch — completely
  11. march — the month
  12. pop — music
  13. field — farmland
  14. firm — decided
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. pop — soda
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. kid — to tease
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. march — music
  24. march — the month

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