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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. field — farmland
  5. rest — what's left
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. roll — a list
  8. rest — what's left
  9. cell — a phone
  10. cell — in biology
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. present — a gift
  13. field — a subject
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. cold — an illness
  17. present — the time now
  18. perch — the fish
  19. field — for sport
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. roll — a cake
  22. cold — not warm
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. present — there

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