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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: ground · chest · field · object · bat · squash

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. field — a subject
  3. ground — crushed
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. squash — the sport
  6. squash — to crush
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. object — a thing
  9. field — for sport
  10. object — to protest
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. ground — the earth
  13. field — farmland
  14. object — an aim
  15. chest — a box
  16. bat — the animal
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — of your body

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