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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.

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: field · sharp · pitch · season · spring · mine · land · toast

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. season — in sport
  3. land — to come down
  4. mine — for digging
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. field — farmland
  7. spring — a coil
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. sharp — clever
  10. land — ground
  11. toast — bread
  12. pitch — completely
  13. spring — of water
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. land — a country
  18. season — of the year
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. field — for sport
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. field — a subject
  23. spring — the season
  24. mine — an explosive

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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