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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. field — a subject
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. mine — for digging
  6. field — farmland
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. track — a song
  9. track — to keep track
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. chair — a leader
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. field — for sport
  15. date — the fruit
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. track — a path
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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