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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: hand · bat · ground · field · fine · pop · sharp · tube

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. hand — help
  6. pop — soda
  7. fine — high quality
  8. ground — the earth
  9. ground — a position
  10. sharp — clever
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. hand — in cards
  13. bat — the animal
  14. field — for sport
  15. ground — crushed
  16. field — a subject
  17. pop — music
  18. fine — all right
  19. pop — to visit
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. tube — a container
  22. tube — the underground
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. hand — part of the 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