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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 116 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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. kick — in football
  3. field — for sport
  4. field — farmland
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. net — in sport
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. race — the arms race
  11. field — a subject
  12. capital — money
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. race — a contest
  16. capital — a city
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. net — after costs
  19. mug — to rob
  20. mug — a face
  21. race — humankind
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. mug — a cup
  24. net — for catching

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