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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. stand — to bear
  5. key — in music
  6. spell — letters
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. row — to paddle
  9. hand — in cards
  10. key — the most important part
  11. field — a subject
  12. key — for a lock
  13. field — for sport
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. net — after costs
  16. row — a line
  17. spell — a short time
  18. spell — magic
  19. bat — the animal
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. net — for catching
  22. net — in sport
  23. field — farmland
  24. hand — help

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