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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: ground · bat · net · foot · field · trunk · cell · saw

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  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. cell — a phone
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. field — farmland
  6. ground — a position
  7. field — for sport
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. cell — in biology
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. ground — crushed
  13. saw — the tool
  14. net — for catching
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. net — after costs
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. saw — the tool
  19. foot — a measure
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. bat — the animal
  22. ground — the earth
  23. net — in sport
  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