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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 116 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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. sharp — clever
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. cell — a phone
  5. cell — in biology
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. file — a tool
  9. file — a line of people
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. file — a document
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. stand — to bear
  14. field — for sport
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. pass — a permit
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. chip — to eat
  19. field — a subject
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. field — farmland
  24. chip — for betting

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