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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 · deal · foot · mine · ground · pitch · band · field

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. chest — a box
  3. ground — crushed
  4. ground — a position
  5. field — a subject
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. ground — the earth
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. chest — of your body
  10. field — for sport
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. chest — of your body
  13. pitch — completely
  14. deal — to handle
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. mine — for digging
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. band — a ring
  23. field — farmland
  24. foot — a measure

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