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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. kick — in football
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. tear — to rip
  7. tear — from crying
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. field — for sport
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. tear — from crying
  13. file — a line of people
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. field — farmland
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. field — a subject
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. last — finally
  20. squash — to crush
  21. last — to go on
  22. squash — the sport
  23. file — a tool
  24. last — final

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