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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: date · toast · pound · hide · field · cell

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. toast — bread
  4. cell — a phone
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. field — for sport
  9. date — the fruit
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. pound — a weight
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. field — a subject
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. cell — in biology

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