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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. field — farmland
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. band — a ring
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. ground — a position
  8. ground — crushed
  9. field — a subject
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. wound — an injury
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. wound — an injury
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. pitch — completely
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. plane — a tool
  22. field — for sport
  23. ground — the earth
  24. pitcher — a jug

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