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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. roll — a list
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. net — after costs
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. bat — the animal
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. wake — a trail
  9. net — in sport
  10. roll — a cake
  11. present — the time now
  12. present — there
  13. ball — a great time
  14. present — a gift
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. ball — a dance
  20. field — a subject
  21. net — for catching
  22. mine — for digging
  23. bat — in an idiom
  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