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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. field — for sport
  3. mate — a partner
  4. net — in sport
  5. fall — to drop
  6. season — in sport
  7. bat — the animal
  8. mate — a friend
  9. march — the month
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. net — for catching
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. mate — to breed
  14. net — after costs
  15. season — of the year
  16. march — the month
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. fall — to drop
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. field — farmland
  22. fall — the season
  23. march — music
  24. field — a subject

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