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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. kid — child
  3. content — the amount
  4. field — farmland
  5. file — a document
  6. wind — moving air
  7. file — a line of people
  8. race — a contest
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. field — a subject
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. rush — hurry
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. content — happy
  17. kid — to tease
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. race — humankind
  21. file — a tool
  22. wind — moving air
  23. race — the arms race
  24. content — videos and posts

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