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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — for sport
  6. land — a country
  7. field — farmland
  8. chest — a box
  9. wake — a trail
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. cell — in biology
  12. land — to come down
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — of your body
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. cell — a phone
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. plane — a tool
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. land — ground
  24. squash — to crush

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