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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. staff — employees
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — not warm
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. staff — a stick
  9. stand — to bear
  10. cell — a phone
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. game — wild animals
  13. staff — employees
  14. game — a match
  15. field — farmland
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. stand — for spectators
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. field — for sport
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. cell — in biology
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. stand — on your feet

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