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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
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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: leaves · saw · bat · cold · pound · season · stand · field

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  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. season — of the year
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. season — in sport
  4. bat — the animal
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. cold — not warm
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. field — farmland
  11. field — a subject
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. pound — a weight
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. saw — the tool
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. stand — to bear
  23. bat — for baseball
  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