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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. spring — the season
  3. field — farmland
  4. cell — in biology
  5. bass — the fish
  6. spring — of water
  7. chest — a box
  8. bass — low music
  9. chest — of your body
  10. deal — to handle
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. field — for sport
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. chest — of your body
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. field — a subject
  19. swing — music
  20. swing — in golf
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. swing — to play on
  23. spring — a coil
  24. sharp — clever

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