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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. When will it ________________ you to start?
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. field — a subject
  3. file — a tool
  4. suit — clothes
  5. file — a line of people
  6. season — in sport
  7. field — for sport
  8. file — a document
  9. hand — help
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. hand — in cards
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. suit — to fit
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. rush — hurry
  19. field — farmland
  20. cold — an illness
  21. squash — to crush
  22. cold — not warm
  23. suit — in cards
  24. season — of the year

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