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

Word bank: bay · racket · chair · tear · spell · field

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. 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. racket — for tennis
  2. spell — a short time
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. field — for sport
  8. field — farmland
  9. field — a subject
  10. tear — to rip
  11. chair — a leader
  12. spell — letters
  13. tear — from crying
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. tear — from crying
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. 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