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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. hand — in cards
  3. file — a tool
  4. hand — help
  5. wound — an injury
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. lie — to recline
  9. pop — soda
  10. pop — to visit
  11. craft — a skill
  12. field — farmland
  13. file — a document
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. pop — music
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. craft — boats
  18. date — the fruit
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. field — for sport
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. field — a subject
  23. wound — an injury
  24. file — a line of people

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