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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. chest — of your body
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. track — a song
  5. chest — of your body
  6. field — a subject
  7. squash — to crush
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. object — to protest
  10. squash — the sport
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. object — a thing
  13. field — farmland
  14. chest — a box
  15. field — for sport
  16. craft — a skill
  17. craft — boats
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. track — to keep track
  20. track — a path
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. object — an aim
  24. squash — the vegetable

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