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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: hand · racket · sharp · pound · cap · cell · object · field

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. cell — in biology
  4. cap — a hat
  5. cap — a lid
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. hand — in cards
  8. cell — a phone
  9. object — to protest
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. cap — of ice
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. object — a thing
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. field — for sport
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. sharp — clever
  18. field — a subject
  19. pound — a weight
  20. hand — help
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. object — an aim

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