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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. squash — to crush
  3. file — a document
  4. chair — a leader
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. pit — a hole
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. file — a line of people
  10. pit — in a race
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. file — a tool
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. field — farmland
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. squash — the sport
  19. chest — of your body
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. field — for sport
  22. field — a subject
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — a box

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