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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. field — farmland
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. chest — of your body
  6. file — a tool
  7. pound — a weight
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. bore — to tire
  10. deal — to handle
  11. field — a subject
  12. chest — of your body
  13. file — a line of people
  14. field — for sport
  15. wake — a trail
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. bore — to drill
  19. mark — a trace
  20. chest — a box
  21. file — a document
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. mark — a grade
  24. pound — for dogs

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