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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 124 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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. swing — to play on
  3. field — a subject
  4. field — farmland
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. root — of a word
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. field — for sport
  9. swing — music
  10. mate — a partner
  11. march — the month
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. mate — to breed
  15. root — the cause
  16. march — the month
  17. toast — bread
  18. root — of a plant
  19. bat — the animal
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. march — music
  23. swing — in golf
  24. cabinet — ministers

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