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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. saw — the tool
  4. key — the most important part
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. cell — a phone
  7. present — there
  8. last — to go on
  9. last — final
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. present — the time now
  12. saw — the tool
  13. key — in music
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. field — a subject
  17. key — for a lock
  18. last — finally
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. cell — in biology
  22. present — a gift
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. field — for sport

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