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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. cell — a phone
  3. pass — a permit
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. field — for sport
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. chip — for betting
  10. cell — in biology
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. bark — to shout
  13. spell — letters
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. field — a subject
  17. field — farmland
  18. spell — a short time
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. chip — to eat
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. spell — magic
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. pass — to spend time

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