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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: kid · season · field · bat · sharp · calf · wave · wind

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. sharp — clever
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. kid — child
  5. season — in sport
  6. field — a subject
  7. field — for sport
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — moving air
  10. kid — to tease
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. bat — the animal
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. field — farmland
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. wave — of the sea

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