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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. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  11. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — a strongbox
  2. degree — an amount
  3. field — farmland
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. date — the fruit
  6. degree — from a university
  7. field — a subject
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. snap — to click
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. degree — temperature
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. season — in sport
  20. field — for sport
  21. cell — a phone
  22. cell — in biology
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. season — of the year

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