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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cell · racket · field · lean · chip · wound · game · spell

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. lean — to bend
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. spell — letters
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. spell — a short time
  7. field — farmland
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. chip — to eat
  10. field — for sport
  11. cell — a phone
  12. cell — in biology
  13. game — a match
  14. chip — for betting
  15. field — a subject
  16. spell — magic
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. lean — thin
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. wound — an injury

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