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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: mug · field · pit · roll · land · dip · chest · wake

  1. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. mug — a cup
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. field — farmland
  6. roll — a cake
  7. wake — a trail
  8. dip — to sink
  9. pit — in a race
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. roll — a list
  12. land — to come down
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. chest — of your body
  16. land — a country
  17. chest — a box
  18. chest — of your body
  19. mug — to rob
  20. field — a subject
  21. land — ground
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. pit — a hole
  24. field — for sport

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