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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 · land · cell · squash · net · swing · cold · bark

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. swing — music
  3. net — for catching
  4. cell — in biology
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. field — for sport
  7. swing — in golf
  8. land — a country
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. field — a subject
  11. net — after costs
  12. squash — to crush
  13. bark — to shout
  14. cell — a phone
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. land — ground
  19. field — farmland
  20. net — in sport
  21. land — to come down
  22. swing — to play on
  23. squash — the sport
  24. cold — an illness

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