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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 116 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. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. shower — to wash
  3. rush — hurry
  4. field — farmland
  5. shower — rain
  6. field — a subject
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. file — a line of people
  10. stand — to bear
  11. file — a document
  12. field — for sport
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. kick — in football
  16. file — a tool
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. kick — with a leg

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