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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. chair — a leader
  3. mate — a friend
  4. cell — a phone
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. mate — a partner
  7. field — for sport
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. wind — moving air
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. mate — to breed
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. field — farmland
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — a box
  16. squash — the sport
  17. chest — of your body
  18. field — a subject
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. cell — in biology
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. squash — to crush
  24. chair — a professorship

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