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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. bat — the animal
  3. spring — of water
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. spring — a coil
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. spring — the season
  9. field — farmland
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. shower — to wash
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. bulb — for light
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. bark — to shout
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. shower — rain
  23. bulb — for light
  24. field — a subject

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