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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. wake — a trail
  4. field — for sport
  5. field — a subject
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. cell — a phone
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. land — to come down
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. field — farmland
  14. bulb — for light
  15. land — ground
  16. bulb — for light
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. rest — what's left
  19. rest — a break
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. rest — what's left
  22. land — a country
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. cell — in biology

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