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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. net — after costs
  3. land — ground
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. field — a subject
  6. fall — the season
  7. field — for sport
  8. fall — to drop
  9. land — to come down
  10. bank — of a river
  11. bank — for money
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. game — a match
  14. bank — for money
  15. net — in sport
  16. net — for catching
  17. fall — to drop
  18. foot — a measure
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. game — wild animals
  23. kick — in football
  24. land — a country

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