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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. file — a line of people
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. hand — in cards
  5. field — farmland
  6. mug — a cup
  7. prune — to trim
  8. ground — crushed
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. file — a document
  12. hand — help
  13. bass — low music
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. bass — the fish
  16. prune — to trim
  17. file — a tool
  18. field — for sport
  19. mug — to rob
  20. pound — a weight
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. mug — a face
  23. ground — the earth
  24. field — a subject

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