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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  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. land — a country
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. club — a group
  5. field — for sport
  6. roll — a list
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. date — the fruit
  9. cold — not warm
  10. field — farmland
  11. land — ground
  12. swing — in golf
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. club — for golf
  15. club — for dancing
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. land — to come down
  19. cold — an illness
  20. roll — a cake
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. swing — music
  23. swing — to play on
  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