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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: cabinet · date · bowl · wound · season · field · nail · deal

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. field — farmland
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. season — in sport
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. date — the fruit
  12. field — for sport
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. season — of the year
  16. deal — to handle
  17. wound — an injury
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. wound — an injury
  23. field — a subject
  24. date — on the calendar

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