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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. file — a tool
  3. field — a subject
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. shower — rain
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. toast — the most admired
  8. shower — to wash
  9. file — a line of people
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. rock — music
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. rock — a stone
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. file — a document
  16. field — farmland
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. face — to confront
  19. field — for sport
  20. toast — bread
  21. date — the fruit
  22. face — part of the head
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. face — to point toward

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