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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. field — a subject
  3. cap — a hat
  4. club — for golf
  5. pop — to visit
  6. cell — a phone
  7. cell — in biology
  8. chest — of your body
  9. cap — a lid
  10. club — a group
  11. scale — in music
  12. field — for sport
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. pop — soda
  15. last — to go on
  16. pop — music
  17. last — final
  18. chest — of your body
  19. cap — of ice
  20. scale — size or range
  21. chest — a box
  22. field — farmland
  23. club — for dancing
  24. scale — for weighing

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