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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. field — a subject
  4. field — farmland
  5. march — music
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bat — the animal
  8. march — the month
  9. squash — the sport
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. fall — to drop
  12. tube — a container
  13. squash — to crush
  14. tube — the underground
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. lie — to recline
  21. march — the month
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. fall — the season
  24. bat — in an idiom

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