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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. field — farmland
  3. mate — a partner
  4. craft — boats
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. chest — of your body
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. game — a match
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. field — for sport
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. mate — a friend
  15. field — a subject
  16. chest — of your body
  17. mate — to breed
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. chest — a box
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. craft — a skill
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. craft — a handicraft

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