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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. field — farmland
  3. key — for a lock
  4. field — for sport
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. file — a line of people
  7. cap — of ice
  8. chest — of your body
  9. pop — to visit
  10. rush — hurry
  11. key — the most important part
  12. file — a document
  13. pop — soda
  14. cap — a lid
  15. chest — of your body
  16. file — a tool
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. pop — music
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. chest — a box
  21. cap — a hat
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. key — in music
  24. rush — to hurry

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