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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. bat — the animal
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. field — for sport
  5. drill — a practice
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. spring — of water
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. spring — a coil
  10. drill — the tool
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. bass — the fish
  15. spring — the season
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. field — a subject
  20. bass — low music
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. drill — army training
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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