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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 116 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: spell · land · swing · game · field · pit · cap · mine

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. mine — for digging
  3. swing — to play on
  4. pit — in a race
  5. game — a match
  6. swing — music
  7. spell — letters
  8. land — ground
  9. field — a subject
  10. swing — in golf
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. game — wild animals
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. field — farmland
  15. spell — magic
  16. cap — a hat
  17. land — to come down
  18. field — for sport
  19. pit — a hole
  20. cap — of ice
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. land — a country
  23. cap — a lid
  24. spell — a short time

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