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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. field — a subject
  4. staff — employees
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. net — after costs
  7. field — farmland
  8. bound — obliged
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. field — for sport
  11. bound — tied together
  12. staff — a stick
  13. fine — high quality
  14. fine — all right
  15. bound — certain
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. file — a document
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. staff — employees
  21. mine — for digging
  22. file — a tool
  23. file — a line of people
  24. net — in sport

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