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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. cap — a hat
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. ground — a position
  6. cap — a lid
  7. clip — to cut
  8. ground — the earth
  9. season — in sport
  10. land — a country
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. land — ground
  13. clip — for paper
  14. field — a subject
  15. plane — a tool
  16. mark — a grade
  17. mark — a trace
  18. ground — crushed
  19. cap — of ice
  20. clip — a video
  21. season — of the year
  22. field — for sport
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. land — to come down

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