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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: bat · field · hand · wind · game · plane · pitcher · foot

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  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. bat — the animal
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. wind — moving air
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. game — wild animals
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. wind — moving air
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. field — a subject
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. plane — a tool
  14. foot — a measure
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. hand — help
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. field — farmland
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. hand — in cards
  21. game — a match
  22. wind — to turn a key
  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