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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: kid · field · cap · staff · mark · ground · swing · season

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. ground — crushed
  3. swing — in golf
  4. cap — of ice
  5. mark — a trace
  6. ground — the earth
  7. ground — a position
  8. cap — a lid
  9. staff — employees
  10. mark — a grade
  11. field — for sport
  12. field — a subject
  13. season — in sport
  14. cap — a hat
  15. field — farmland
  16. swing — music
  17. staff — a stick
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. kid — child
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. season — of the year
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. staff — employees
  24. swing — to play on

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