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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. field — a subject
  3. prune — to trim
  4. bore — to drill
  5. capital — a city
  6. field — for sport
  7. capital — money
  8. cell — in biology
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bore — to tire
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. cell — a phone
  17. prune — to trim
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. bat — the animal
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. field — farmland
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. chair — a leader

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