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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. field — for sport
  5. field — a subject
  6. swing — to play on
  7. bass — low music
  8. chest — of your body
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. bass — the fish
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. rush — hurry
  13. degree — from a university
  14. degree — temperature
  15. swing — in golf
  16. chest — a box
  17. shower — to wash
  18. degree — an amount
  19. swing — music
  20. field — farmland
  21. cell — a phone
  22. chest — of your body
  23. shower — rain
  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