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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: game · bore · cap · land · net · field · straw · cell

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. cap — a lid
  5. net — after costs
  6. land — a country
  7. cap — of ice
  8. field — a subject
  9. bore — to tire
  10. cap — a hat
  11. net — for catching
  12. cell — in biology
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. game — a match
  16. bore — to drill
  17. land — to come down
  18. field — farmland
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. field — for sport
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. land — ground
  23. cell — a phone
  24. game — wild animals

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