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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. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — for spectators
  2. field — farmland
  3. cap — of ice
  4. file — a tool
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. chip — to eat
  7. chip — for betting
  8. rash — hasty
  9. cap — a hat
  10. snap — to click
  11. file — a document
  12. rash — a series
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. field — a subject
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. stand — to bear
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. cap — a lid
  22. file — a line of people
  23. field — for sport
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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