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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. present — the time now
  4. court — for sport
  5. court — of law
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. swing — in golf
  9. field — for sport
  10. date — the fruit
  11. bat — the animal
  12. court — of a king
  13. swing — to play on
  14. pound — a weight
  15. present — there
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. field — a subject
  23. present — a gift
  24. swing — music

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