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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. cell — a phone
  3. file — a line of people
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. file — a tool
  6. field — for sport
  7. field — farmland
  8. cell — in biology
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. last — to go on
  12. cold — an illness
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. cold — not warm
  15. chip — to eat
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. last — final
  18. rock — a stone
  19. chip — for betting
  20. last — finally
  21. pound — a weight
  22. field — a subject
  23. file — a document
  24. rock — 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