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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. chair — a leader
  3. field — farmland
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. tube — a container
  6. cell — a phone
  7. file — a line of people
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. capital — a city
  13. content — the amount
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. field — a subject
  17. content — happy
  18. tube — the underground
  19. file — a tool
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. capital — money
  23. cell — in biology
  24. file — a document

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