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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 120 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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. When will it ________________ you to start?
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. field — a subject
  3. bore — to tire
  4. land — ground
  5. row — a line
  6. net — for catching
  7. swing — to play on
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. row — to paddle
  10. cap — of ice
  11. net — after costs
  12. cap — a hat
  13. land — to come down
  14. field — for sport
  15. suit — to fit
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. land — a country
  18. suit — clothes
  19. suit — in cards
  20. cap — a lid
  21. bore — to drill
  22. swing — music
  23. net — in sport
  24. swing — in golf

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