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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. ground — crushed
  3. pitch — completely
  4. field — farmland
  5. field — for sport
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. bulb — for light
  12. land — a country
  13. land — to come down
  14. field — a subject
  15. cap — a lid
  16. cap — a hat
  17. ground — the earth
  18. ground — a position
  19. cap — of ice
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. safe — a strongbox
  23. bulb — for light
  24. pitch — a sports field

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