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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. wake — a trail
  5. chair — a leader
  6. field — for sport
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. scale — size or range
  9. field — farmland
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. game — a match
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. bat — the animal
  17. scale — in music
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. mug — a face
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. game — wild animals
  23. mug — a cup
  24. mug — to rob

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