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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: ground · wave · dip · game · mark · mine · land · field

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. field — farmland
  3. dip — to sink
  4. mine — for digging
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. ground — a position
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. land — a country
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. ground — the earth
  15. game — wild animals
  16. game — a match
  17. land — to come down
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. mark — a grade
  21. field — for sport
  22. land — ground
  23. mark — a trace
  24. field — a subject

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