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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. staff — a stick
  4. field — a subject
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. field — for sport
  11. staff — employees
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. field — farmland
  14. net — for catching
  15. net — in sport
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. cell — in biology
  18. bark — to shout
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. net — after costs
  21. content — the amount
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. content — happy
  24. cell — a phone

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