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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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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: nail · wind · bowl · net · land · kick · field · toast

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. field — farmland
  3. kick — in football
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. toast — bread
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. net — for catching
  8. field — for sport
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. field — a subject
  13. wind — moving air
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. land — a country
  16. net — after costs
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. land — to come down
  19. net — in sport
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. land — ground
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. wind — moving air

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