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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. prune — to trim
  3. file — a tool
  4. field — farmland
  5. hand — in cards
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. band — a music group
  8. field — a subject
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. foot — a measure
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. scale — size or range
  14. field — for sport
  15. band — a ring
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. prune — to trim
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. scale — in music
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. file — a document
  23. hand — help
  24. band — a rubber band

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