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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. field — farmland
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. chest — of your body
  6. march — music
  7. chest — of your body
  8. field — a subject
  9. march — the month
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. season — of the year
  13. field — for sport
  14. band — a music group
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. sharp — clever
  17. chest — a box
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. march — the month
  20. season — in sport
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. band — a ring
  24. bowl — a dish

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