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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. field — farmland
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. tear — to rip
  5. charge — in control
  6. chest — a box
  7. cell — a phone
  8. field — for sport
  9. degree — from a university
  10. rest — what's left
  11. field — a subject
  12. tear — from crying
  13. charge — a price
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. cell — in biology
  16. chest — of your body
  17. degree — temperature
  18. chest — of your body
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. rest — what's left
  22. tear — from crying
  23. degree — an amount
  24. charge — electricity

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