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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. field — farmland
  5. season — in sport
  6. present — a gift
  7. bat — the animal
  8. cold — an illness
  9. field — a subject
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. present — the time now
  15. present — there
  16. pop — to visit
  17. pop — music
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. season — of the year
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. pop — soda
  22. ball — a great time
  23. ball — a dance
  24. field — for sport

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