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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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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 · dip · foot · field · land · pitcher · deal · ground

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. land — a country
  4. land — to come down
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. field — farmland
  8. ground — the earth
  9. field — a subject
  10. foot — a measure
  11. field — for sport
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. ground — crushed
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. deal — to handle
  16. land — ground
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. dip — to sink
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. dip — a sauce

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