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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 124 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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. pitch — completely
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. swing — to play on
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. swing — in golf
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. swing — music
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. mine — for digging
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. craft — a skill
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. field — a subject
  17. kid — to tease
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. kid — child
  21. field — for sport
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. craft — boats
  24. mine — an explosive

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