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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. ground — crushed
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. pop — soda
  5. pop — to visit
  6. pop — music
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. field — a subject
  10. pitch — completely
  11. mine — for digging
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. field — for sport
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. ground — the earth
  17. ground — a position
  18. spell — magic
  19. spell — a short time
  20. spell — letters
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. wound — an injury
  24. mine — an explosive

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