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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 am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. field — farmland
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. scale — size or range
  5. bat — the animal
  6. scale — in music
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. court — for sport
  11. chair — a leader
  12. cell — in biology
  13. court — of law
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. lean — thin
  18. field — for sport
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. lean — to bend
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. court — of a king
  23. field — a subject
  24. cell — a phone

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