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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 116 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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. ball — a great time
  3. field — a subject
  4. row — to paddle
  5. ball — a dance
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. field — for sport
  8. scale — size or range
  9. mate — a friend
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. mate — to breed
  12. row — a line
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. scale — in music
  16. mate — a partner
  17. chip — to eat
  18. chip — for betting
  19. clip — a video
  20. clip — to cut
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. clip — for paper
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. chip — in a computer

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