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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 120 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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. net — after costs
  3. land — to come down
  4. net — in sport
  5. cold — an illness
  6. field — for sport
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. kick — in football
  9. club — for golf
  10. club — for dancing
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. net — for catching
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. cold — not warm
  19. temple — side of the head
  20. land — ground
  21. field — farmland
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. land — a country
  24. club — a group

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