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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. shower — to wash
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — for sport
  6. spring — of water
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. spring — a coil
  12. file — a tool
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. file — a line of people
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. chair — a leader
  18. file — a document
  19. cell — a phone
  20. cell — in biology
  21. field — farmland
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. shower — rain
  24. spring — the season

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