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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 · hand · land · tear · swing · field · chip · racket

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  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. racket — for tennis
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. swing — music
  4. swing — to play on
  5. hand — in cards
  6. land — ground
  7. tear — to rip
  8. chip — for betting
  9. field — farmland
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. rock — music
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. rock — a stone
  14. land — a country
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. swing — in golf
  17. hand — help
  18. tear — from crying
  19. chip — to eat
  20. field — a subject
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. tear — from crying
  23. land — to come down
  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