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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. game — wild animals
  3. present — a gift
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. file — a line of people
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. current — happening now
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. file — a tool
  10. current — of water
  11. current — electric
  12. present — the time now
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. file — a document
  15. tube — the underground
  16. field — farmland
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. tube — a container
  19. present — there
  20. field — for sport
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. game — a match
  24. foot — a measure

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