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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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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: chest · field · pit · bat · hide · bowl · row · march

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. row — to paddle
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. field — for sport
  10. march — the month
  11. pit — a hole
  12. march — music
  13. pit — in a race
  14. bat — the animal
  15. field — farmland
  16. field — a subject
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. chest — of your body
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. chest — of your body
  22. row — a line
  23. chest — a box
  24. hide — to keep secret

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