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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. spell — letters
  6. season — of the year
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. field — for sport
  9. field — a subject
  10. cell — in biology
  11. field — farmland
  12. swing — in golf
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. spell — magic
  17. season — in sport
  18. swing — to play on
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — an illness
  22. swing — music
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. spell — a short time

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