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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 120 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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. kid — to tease
  3. firm — a company
  4. ground — a position
  5. land — ground
  6. land — to come down
  7. present — a gift
  8. key — the most important part
  9. field — farmland
  10. firm — steady
  11. firm — decided
  12. land — a country
  13. key — in music
  14. ground — crushed
  15. field — for sport
  16. present — there
  17. field — a subject
  18. cell — a phone
  19. key — for a lock
  20. present — the time now
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. ground — the earth
  24. kid — child

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