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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'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. swing — in golf
  3. cell — a phone
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — farmland
  6. swing — to play on
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. tube — the underground
  9. ground — the earth
  10. cue — a signal
  11. present — a gift
  12. tube — a container
  13. toast — bread
  14. ground — a position
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. field — for sport
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. present — there
  19. ground — crushed
  20. cue — for pool
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. cell — in biology
  23. swing — music
  24. present — the time now

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