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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: rock · bass · wound · bat · field · chip · mouse · leaves

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bass — the fish
  5. rock — music
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. chip — for betting
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. chip — to eat
  11. rock — a stone
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. bass — low music
  18. wound — an injury
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. field — a subject
  23. bat — the animal
  24. field — for sport

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