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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. chair — a leader
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. field — for sport
  7. plane — a tool
  8. fork — in a road
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. bat — the animal
  11. spell — a short time
  12. file — a document
  13. file — a tool
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. spell — letters
  16. cell — a phone
  17. field — farmland
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. file — a line of people
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. cell — in biology
  23. field — a subject
  24. spell — magic

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