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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 116 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 · hand · hide · track · stand · last · cell · field

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. hand — help
  3. cell — in biology
  4. track — a path
  5. field — farmland
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. chair — a leader
  9. field — a subject
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. last — final
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. cell — a phone
  14. track — a song
  15. field — for sport
  16. hand — in cards
  17. stand — to bear
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. track — to keep track
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. last — to go on
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. hide — animal skin

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