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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. field — a subject
  3. land — to come down
  4. field — farmland
  5. scale — in music
  6. bulb — for light
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bulb — for light
  10. land — a country
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. mate — to breed
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. season — of the year
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. season — in sport
  17. land — ground
  18. scale — size or range
  19. bat — the animal
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. mate — a friend
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. field — for sport
  24. bat — for baseball

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