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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 124 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. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. spring — of water
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. field — for sport
  6. spring — a coil
  7. kid — child
  8. field — a subject
  9. pop — music
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. field — farmland
  13. band — a ring
  14. bat — the animal
  15. safe — a strongbox
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. pitch — completely
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. pop — soda
  20. pop — to visit
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. kid — to tease
  23. band — a music group
  24. spring — the season

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