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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. band — a music group
  3. file — a tool
  4. file — a document
  5. field — a subject
  6. band — a ring
  7. field — for sport
  8. board — to get on
  9. land — to come down
  10. spell — magic
  11. land — ground
  12. field — farmland
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. land — a country
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. board — a committee
  17. spell — letters
  18. spell — a short time

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