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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 120 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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. season — of the year
  3. wake — a trail
  4. rest — a break
  5. staff — employees
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. staff — a stick
  8. staff — employees
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. field — farmland
  11. rest — what's left
  12. chair — a leader
  13. pitch — completely
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bat — the animal
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. field — a subject
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. season — in sport
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. rest — what's left
  24. chair — a professorship

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