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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. field — a subject
  3. field — farmland
  4. cell — a phone
  5. spring — the season
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. cell — in biology
  8. band — a music group
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. wake — a trail
  11. mug — a face
  12. chair — a leader
  13. band — a ring
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. present — the time now
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. mug — a cup
  18. spring — of water
  19. field — for sport
  20. present — a gift
  21. spring — a coil
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. mug — to rob

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