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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: chair · cap · root · pass · field · mate · game · file

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. mate — a friend
  3. cap — a hat
  4. field — for sport
  5. cap — of ice
  6. mate — a partner
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. root — of a word
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. mate — to breed
  11. field — farmland
  12. pass — a permit
  13. file — a line of people
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. chair — a leader
  16. root — the cause
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. game — a match
  19. cap — a lid
  20. file — a document
  21. root — of a plant
  22. file — a tool
  23. game — wild animals
  24. field — a subject

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