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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. file — a document
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. cell — a phone
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. stock — goods
  8. file — a line of people
  9. date — the fruit
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. swing — to play on
  13. field — farmland
  14. stock — shares
  15. field — a subject
  16. field — for sport
  17. pass — a permit
  18. swing — in golf
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. file — a tool
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. cell — in biology
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. swing — music

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