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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. game — a match
  4. spring — the season
  5. ground — crushed
  6. spring — of water
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. chair — a leader
  9. season — of the year
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. field — for sport
  12. game — wild animals
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. ground — the earth
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. spring — a coil
  18. season — in sport
  19. bat — the animal
  20. field — farmland
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. field — a subject
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. ground — a position

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