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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: field · foot · can · wound · leaves · hand · bat · row

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. wound — an injury
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. wound — an injury
  8. can — a tin
  9. hand — in cards
  10. field — for sport
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. bat — the animal
  13. can — to be able to
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. field — a subject
  16. hand — help
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. foot — a measure
  20. row — a line
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. row — to paddle
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. can — a tin

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