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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 116 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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. field — farmland
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. band — a ring
  9. season — in sport
  10. band — a music group
  11. season — of the year
  12. swing — music
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. field — a subject
  15. swing — in golf
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. swing — to play on
  19. field — for sport
  20. bat — the animal
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. pitch — completely
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. bat — in an idiom

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