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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. field — for sport
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. bound — tied together
  5. bound — certain
  6. rush — hurry
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. game — a match
  10. march — music
  11. press — newspapers
  12. press — a publisher
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. last — final
  15. game — wild animals
  16. last — finally
  17. march — the month
  18. march — the month
  19. bound — obliged
  20. press — to push
  21. field — farmland
  22. last — to go on
  23. cell — in biology
  24. field — a subject

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