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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. bat — the animal
  3. spring — a coil
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. last — to go on
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. field — a subject
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. chair — a leader
  12. mate — a friend
  13. spring — the season
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. sharp — clever
  17. last — final
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. mate — to breed
  20. field — farmland
  21. last — finally
  22. spring — of water
  23. field — for sport
  24. mate — a partner

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