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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 usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. file — a line of people
  3. field — a subject
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. saw — the tool
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. saw — the tool
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. field — for sport
  12. ground — a position
  13. lean — to bend
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. fork — in a road
  16. ground — the earth
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. file — a document
  19. field — farmland
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. lean — thin
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. ground — crushed
  24. file — a tool

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