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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: march · bat · vault · field · ball · kid · cell · charge

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. kid — child
  3. field — a subject
  4. charge — electricity
  5. charge — a price
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. ball — a great time
  8. vault — a safe
  9. cell — in biology
  10. ball — a dance
  11. kid — to tease
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. charge — in control
  14. march — the month
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. field — for sport
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. march — music
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. march — the month
  23. bat — the animal
  24. cell — a phone

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