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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  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. pitcher — a jug
  2. charge — a price
  3. deal — to handle
  4. field — a subject
  5. game — a match
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. plane — a tool
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. charge — in control
  10. file — a tool
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. tube — a container
  13. file — a document
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. field — for sport
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. file — a line of people
  18. charge — electricity
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. tube — the underground
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. field — farmland
  23. plane — in geometry
  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