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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. ground — crushed
  3. can — a tin
  4. mine — for digging
  5. mark — a trace
  6. field — a subject
  7. ground — a position
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. spring — a coil
  10. can — to be able to
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. file — a tool
  13. file — a document
  14. can — a tin
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. spring — the season
  17. mark — a grade
  18. ground — the earth
  19. field — farmland
  20. spring — of water
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. file — a line of people
  24. field — for sport

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