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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: stand · rest · field · object · ground · bat · pitcher · clip

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. field — a subject
  3. rest — what's left
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. ground — the earth
  7. object — to protest
  8. field — for sport
  9. rest — what's left
  10. ground — crushed
  11. clip — to cut
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. stand — to bear
  15. ground — a position
  16. rest — a break
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. field — farmland
  19. object — a thing
  20. clip — a video
  21. object — an aim
  22. clip — for paper
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. stand — for spectators

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