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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 old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. kid — child
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. march — music
  6. scale — size or range
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. cell — a phone
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. march — the month
  11. ball — a great time
  12. field — for sport
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. field — farmland
  15. kid — to tease
  16. march — the month
  17. scale — in music
  18. ball — a dance
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. staff — employees
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. field — a subject
  23. staff — employees
  24. cell — in biology

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