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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: present · chair · scale · spring · tear · cell · field · drill

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. spring — the season
  3. field — for sport
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. spring — a coil
  6. drill — a practice
  7. cell — in biology
  8. scale — in music
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. drill — the tool
  13. cell — a phone
  14. chair — a leader
  15. present — the time now
  16. drill — army training
  17. field — a subject
  18. present — a gift
  19. present — there
  20. tear — to rip
  21. field — farmland
  22. spring — of water
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tear — from crying

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