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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. field — farmland
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. bat — the animal
  6. mate — a friend
  7. foot — a measure
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. spring — the season
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. mate — to breed
  16. vault — a safe
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. mate — a partner
  19. spring — a coil
  20. field — for sport
  21. pass — a permit
  22. wound — an injury
  23. field — a subject
  24. wound — an injury

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