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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. field — farmland
  3. roll — a cake
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. ground — crushed
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. cell — in biology
  8. lean — thin
  9. roll — a list
  10. cap — a lid
  11. swing — music
  12. swing — in golf
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cell — a phone
  15. field — a subject
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. cap — a hat
  18. cap — of ice
  19. lean — to bend
  20. ground — the earth
  21. vault — a safe
  22. ground — a position
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. swing — to play on

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