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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. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  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. rest — what's left
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. file — a tool
  4. field — a subject
  5. capital — money
  6. file — a line of people
  7. rest — what's left
  8. rest — a break
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. mate — to breed
  11. mate — a partner
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. capital — a city
  14. field — for sport
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. cell — in biology
  19. field — farmland
  20. mate — a friend
  21. file — a document
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. cell — in a prison
  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