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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. game — wild animals
  3. cell — a phone
  4. game — a match
  5. mate — a partner
  6. mate — to breed
  7. cell — in biology
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. mate — a friend
  11. kid — child
  12. pit — in a race
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. kid — to tease
  16. saw — the tool
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. saw — the tool
  20. field — farmland
  21. pit — a hole
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. field — a subject
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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