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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. field — for sport
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. ground — a position
  5. spring — of water
  6. wind — moving air
  7. ground — crushed
  8. spring — the season
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. present — there
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. field — farmland
  13. cap — a hat
  14. spring — a coil
  15. wind — moving air
  16. cap — a lid
  17. present — the time now
  18. ground — the earth
  19. bat — the animal
  20. cap — of ice
  21. present — a gift
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. wind — to turn a key

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