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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 · ground · mate · field · perch · key · scale · drill

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. key — in music
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. scale — size or range
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. ground — a position
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. mate — to breed
  9. kid — to tease
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. key — for a lock
  12. kid — child
  13. drill — a practice
  14. perch — the fish
  15. mate — a friend
  16. drill — the tool
  17. ground — crushed
  18. scale — in music
  19. key — the most important part
  20. field — for sport
  21. field — a subject
  22. mate — a partner
  23. drill — army training
  24. ground — the earth

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