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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. field — for sport
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. ground — the earth
  6. field — farmland
  7. ground — crushed
  8. march — music
  9. kick — in football
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. march — the month
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. land — ground
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. march — the month
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. land — to come down
  20. field — a subject
  21. land — a country
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. mine — for digging
  24. kick — with a leg

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