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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: season · rule · field · object · cell · rest

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. object — to protest
  3. rule — a law
  4. object — an aim
  5. field — a subject
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. cell — a phone
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. season — in sport
  11. cell — in biology
  12. season — of the year
  13. object — a thing
  14. rule — government
  15. field — for sport
  16. rest — what's left
  17. rest — what's left
  18. field — farmland

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