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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 rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. land — a country
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. club — for dancing
  5. field — farmland
  6. object — a thing
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. field — for sport
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. object — an aim
  12. land — ground
  13. object — to protest
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. club — for golf
  16. file — a document
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. field — a subject
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. land — to come down
  22. file — a line of people
  23. club — a group
  24. ruler — for measuring

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