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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: mine · bat · pitch · net · spring · wax · bay · field

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. pitch — completely
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. field — farmland
  6. wax — to grow
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. net — in sport
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. net — for catching
  12. spring — a coil
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. field — a subject
  15. spring — of water
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. mine — for digging
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. bat — the animal
  21. spring — the season
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. net — after costs

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