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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.

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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: field · cabinet · wave · hand · club · net · pitcher · tube

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. field — for sport
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. net — for catching
  6. club — a group
  7. field — a subject
  8. field — farmland
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. tube — a container
  11. club — for dancing
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. tube — the underground
  17. net — after costs
  18. hand — in cards
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. club — for golf
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. net — in sport
  24. pitcher — a jug

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