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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: sharp · bat · key · field · hand · row · land · deal

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. hand — in cards
  4. sharp — clever
  5. key — the most important part
  6. land — a country
  7. hand — help
  8. field — a subject
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. row — to paddle
  11. field — farmland
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. field — for sport
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. deal — to handle
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. key — in music
  20. key — for a lock
  21. bat — the animal
  22. row — a line
  23. land — to come down
  24. bat — for baseball

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