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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. field — a subject
  4. season — of the year
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. mine — for digging
  8. track — a song
  9. cue — a hint
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cue — a signal
  12. field — for sport
  13. track — to keep track
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. cold — not warm
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. cue — for pool
  20. season — in sport
  21. field — farmland
  22. sharp — clever
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. track — a path

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