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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bat · field · wake · file · march · squash · kick · leaves

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. kick — in football
  4. field — farmland
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. field — a subject
  7. march — music
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. march — the month
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. march — the month
  13. squash — to crush
  14. file — a line of people
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. field — for sport
  18. squash — the sport
  19. bat — the animal
  20. wake — a trail
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a tool

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