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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. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — for pool
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. lean — to bend
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. stand — to bear
  6. clip — a video
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. kid — to tease
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. lean — thin
  11. clip — to cut
  12. clip — for paper
  13. chest — of your body
  14. field — farmland
  15. chest — a box
  16. cell — in biology
  17. field — a subject
  18. cell — a phone
  19. cue — a hint
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. kid — child
  22. cue — a signal
  23. chest — of your body
  24. field — for sport

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