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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. field — farmland
  4. field — a subject
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. cell — in biology
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. rash — a series
  11. rash — hasty
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. hand — help
  14. rock — music
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. stand — to bear
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. cell — a phone
  19. swing — music
  20. swing — to play on
  21. mine — for digging
  22. rock — a stone
  23. swing — in golf
  24. field — for sport

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