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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 120 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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. field — a subject
  3. staff — employees
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. cold — not warm
  10. file — a tool
  11. file — a line of people
  12. field — for sport
  13. staff — a stick
  14. staff — employees
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. field — farmland
  22. mine — for digging
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. mine — belonging to me

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