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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. field — a subject
  3. spring — of water
  4. staff — employees
  5. season — in sport
  6. spring — the season
  7. field — for sport
  8. court — of a king
  9. staff — employees
  10. bass — the fish
  11. rash — hasty
  12. spring — a coil
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. field — farmland
  15. chest — a box
  16. staff — a stick
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. chest — of your body
  19. court — for sport
  20. chest — of your body
  21. rash — a series
  22. season — of the year
  23. court — of law
  24. bass — low music

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