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

Word bank: race · pitcher · cell · chest · field · pit

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. cell — a phone
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. race — humankind
  6. race — the arms race
  7. cell — in biology
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — a box
  10. chest — of your body
  11. pit — a hole
  12. field — for sport
  13. pit — in a race
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. race — a contest
  16. field — a subject
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. pitcher — a jug

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