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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.

Make a worksheet

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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. field — for sport
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. staff — employees
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. field — a subject
  7. staff — a stick
  8. scale — in music
  9. spring — a coil
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. field — farmland
  12. spring — of water
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. spring — the season
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. scale — size or range
  18. fan — a supporter

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