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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. ball — a dance
  3. wound — an injury
  4. net — in sport
  5. wound — an injury
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. net — after costs
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. field — for sport
  10. net — for catching
  11. land — a country
  12. land — to come down
  13. ball — a great time
  14. track — a song
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. land — ground
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. track — a path
  19. fork — in a road
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. field — farmland
  22. field — a subject
  23. track — to keep track
  24. ball — a round shape

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