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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 116 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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. tube — a container
  5. field — farmland
  6. row — a line
  7. net — in sport
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. net — for catching
  10. sharp — clever
  11. cell — a phone
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. net — after costs
  14. field — a subject
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. tube — the underground
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. stand — to bear
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. row — to paddle
  24. field — for sport

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