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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: mine · swing · last · perch · field · bat · vault · pit

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. bat — the animal
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. last — final
  5. swing — in golf
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. perch — the fish
  8. swing — to play on
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. field — for sport
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. pit — a hole
  15. field — farmland
  16. swing — music
  17. last — finally
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. vault — a safe
  20. field — a subject
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. last — to go on
  23. pit — in a race
  24. mine — for digging

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