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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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: hide · land · pop · field · bulb · racket

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. land — a country
  4. land — to come down
  5. bulb — for light
  6. pop — to visit
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. bulb — for light
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. field — a subject
  12. pop — soda
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. field — for sport
  15. land — ground
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. pop — music

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