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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  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. pitcher — a jug
  2. cell — a phone
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. shower — rain
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. dip — to sink
  11. stock — goods
  12. cell — in biology
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. field — farmland
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. field — for sport
  17. chair — a leader
  18. stock — shares
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. shower — to wash
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. stock — a soup base
  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