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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. field — a subject
  3. field — farmland
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. mate — a friend
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. mate — a partner
  10. bat — the animal
  11. mate — to breed
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. scale — in music
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bulb — for light
  16. scale — size or range
  17. field — for sport
  18. bulb — for light
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. mine — for digging
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. patient — a sick person

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