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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. rest — what's left
  4. field — a subject
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. swing — in golf
  7. file — a line of people
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. wind — moving air
  11. ground — crushed
  12. field — for sport
  13. saw — the tool
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. wind — moving air
  16. swing — music
  17. rest — a break
  18. rest — what's left
  19. field — farmland
  20. file — a document
  21. ground — a position
  22. file — a tool
  23. ground — the earth
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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