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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. field — farmland
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. field — a subject
  6. rest — what's left
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cell — a phone
  9. field — for sport
  10. cell — in biology
  11. spell — magic
  12. rest — a break
  13. spell — letters
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. mate — to breed
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. sharp — clever
  19. spell — a short time
  20. mate — a friend
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. rest — what's left
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. mate — a partner

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