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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. field — a subject
  4. swing — in golf
  5. season — of the year
  6. wound — an injury
  7. swing — music
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. season — in sport
  11. land — ground
  12. wound — an injury
  13. land — a country
  14. cold — an illness
  15. swing — to play on
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. cold — not warm
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. field — for sport
  22. land — to come down
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. nail — on a finger

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