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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 120 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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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. staff — employees
  3. field — farmland
  4. drill — army training
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. field — a subject
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. plane — a tool
  11. field — for sport
  12. cell — in biology
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. mine — for digging
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. drill — a practice
  17. cell — a phone
  18. sharp — clever
  19. staff — a stick
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. staff — employees
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. drill — the tool
  24. plane — an aircraft

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