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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 120 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: bowl · cap · ruler · lie · pitcher · field · chest · mine

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. cap — a hat
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. cap — of ice
  6. chest — of your body
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. field — a subject
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. field — for sport
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. chest — a box
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. chest — of your body
  15. cap — a lid
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. lie — to recline
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. field — farmland

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