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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. file — a line of people
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. ball — a dance
  9. prune — to trim
  10. wound — an injury
  11. field — a subject
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. rule — a law
  15. file — a tool
  16. field — for sport
  17. prune — to trim
  18. rule — government
  19. wound — an injury
  20. chair — a leader
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. file — a document
  23. ball — a great time
  24. racket — for tennis

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