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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 124 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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. file — a document
  3. squash — to crush
  4. field — for sport
  5. band — a music group
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. mate — a partner
  9. mate — a friend
  10. hand — help
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — farmland
  14. band — a ring
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. hand — in cards
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. file — a line of people
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. file — a tool
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. mate — to breed

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