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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. cell — a phone
  5. squash — the sport
  6. field — a subject
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. field — farmland
  9. stem — to come from
  10. squash — to crush
  11. rest — what's left
  12. mug — a cup
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. press — newspapers
  15. press — a publisher
  16. press — to push
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. rest — what's left
  19. cell — in biology
  20. bat — the animal
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. mug — a face
  23. field — for sport
  24. mug — to rob

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