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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. march — the month
  3. chair — a leader
  4. march — the month
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. key — for a lock
  8. field — farmland
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. march — music
  12. press — a publisher
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. press — to push
  15. mine — for digging
  16. field — a subject
  17. cell — in biology
  18. field — for sport
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. cell — a phone
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. key — in music
  23. key — the most important part
  24. press — newspapers

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