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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 116 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 met the new head ________________?
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. file — a tool
  3. spell — letters
  4. file — a document
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. field — farmland
  7. band — a ring
  8. file — a line of people
  9. bass — low music
  10. safe — a strongbox
  11. band — a music group
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. bass — the fish
  14. spell — a short time
  15. rush — hurry
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. field — a subject
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. field — for sport
  20. spell — magic
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. safe — out of danger

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