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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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. field — for sport
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. bat — the animal
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. bulb — for light
  18. bulb — for light
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. season — in sport
  21. season — of the year
  22. cold — not warm
  23. field — a subject
  24. field — farmland

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