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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 116 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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. field — for sport
  4. rash — hasty
  5. cell — a phone
  6. field — a subject
  7. cell — in biology
  8. field — farmland
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. rash — a series
  11. shower — rain
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. row — to paddle
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. shower — to wash
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. swing — in golf
  18. content — happy
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. content — the amount
  21. swing — to play on
  22. swing — music
  23. row — a line
  24. content — videos and posts

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