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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: cold · racket · field · pit · hand · roll · pop · scale

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. field — a subject
  3. roll — a list
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. hand — help
  6. field — for sport
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. pop — music
  9. pit — a hole
  10. hand — in cards
  11. pop — to visit
  12. cold — an illness
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. scale — size or range
  15. pop — soda
  16. roll — a cake
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. pit — in a race
  22. scale — in music
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cold — not warm

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