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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. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. mine — for digging
  3. rash — a series
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. suit — clothes
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. row — a line
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. field — for sport
  11. net — after costs
  12. suit — in cards
  13. cell — a phone
  14. net — in sport
  15. rash — hasty
  16. row — to paddle
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. cell — in biology
  19. net — for catching
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. field — farmland
  23. field — a subject
  24. cell — in a prison

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