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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: pass · capital · cell · field · staff · roll · bat · rock

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. staff — employees
  3. capital — a city
  4. roll — a list
  5. cell — a phone
  6. staff — a stick
  7. staff — employees
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. pass — a permit
  10. field — a subject
  11. cell — in biology
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. capital — money
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. field — for sport
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. bat — the animal
  19. rock — a stone
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. pass — to succeed
  22. field — farmland
  23. rock — music
  24. cell — in a prison

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