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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. field — a subject
  3. bass — the fish
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. cell — in biology
  7. field — farmland
  8. cell — a phone
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. pound — a weight
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. kid — child
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. bass — low music
  19. shower — rain
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. kid — to tease
  22. shower — to wash
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. bass — the instrument

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