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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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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: cell · bat · march · squash · fall · field · club · arm

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. field — a subject
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. cell — a phone
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. fall — the season
  8. bat — the animal
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. club — for golf
  11. fall — to drop
  12. field — farmland
  13. march — music
  14. march — the month
  15. club — for dancing
  16. field — for sport
  17. cell — in biology
  18. march — the month
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. squash — the sport
  22. fall — to drop
  23. squash — to crush
  24. club — a group

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