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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. pitch — completely
  3. fall — to drop
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. field — farmland
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. track — a song
  9. track — a path
  10. field — for sport
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. fall — the season
  13. chest — a box
  14. field — a subject
  15. fall — to drop
  16. track — to keep track
  17. file — a line of people
  18. chest — of your body
  19. file — a tool
  20. mate — a friend
  21. chest — of your body
  22. file — a document
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. mate — a partner

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