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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 information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. shower — to wash
  6. file — a tool
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. field — for sport
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. field — farmland
  11. game — a match
  12. pound — a weight
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. wake — a trail
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. shower — rain
  18. field — a subject
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. file — a line of people
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. game — wild animals

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