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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: mug · field · squash · cell · tear · mate · chair · bowl

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. squash — the sport
  3. tear — to rip
  4. mate — to breed
  5. mug — a face
  6. field — a subject
  7. cell — in biology
  8. mate — a partner
  9. field — farmland
  10. mate — a friend
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. mug — to rob
  14. tear — from crying
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. mug — a cup
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. cell — a phone
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. chair — a leader
  22. tear — from crying
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. squash — to crush

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