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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 120 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: field · bat · fan · rush · lie · mate · wake · cell

  1. That must've been a ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. lie — to recline
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. field — farmland
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cell — in biology
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. mate — a partner
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. mate — to breed
  13. cell — a phone
  14. wake — a trail
  15. mate — a friend
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. field — for sport
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. bat — the animal
  23. rush — hurry
  24. field — a subject

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