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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. bark — to shout
  3. field — a subject
  4. swing — to play on
  5. press — a publisher
  6. swing — music
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. mate — to breed
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. mate — a friend
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. mate — a partner
  13. swing — in golf
  14. press — newspapers
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. field — for sport
  17. game — wild animals
  18. field — farmland
  19. file — a document
  20. chip — to eat
  21. chip — for betting
  22. game — a match
  23. file — a line of people
  24. press — to push

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