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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. field — farmland
  3. pop — to visit
  4. file — a tool
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — a match
  7. charge — a price
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. pop — soda
  10. field — for sport
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. pop — music
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. file — a document
  15. fork — in a road
  16. field — a subject
  17. charge — electricity
  18. game — wild animals
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. file — a line of people
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. charge — in control
  24. fork — to eat with

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