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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 116 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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. spell — a short time
  3. squash — to crush
  4. charge — in control
  5. pit — a hole
  6. squash — the sport
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. spring — a coil
  9. charge — electricity
  10. spring — the season
  11. file — a line of people
  12. lean — to bend
  13. spell — letters
  14. file — a document
  15. field — farmland
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. lean — thin
  18. field — a subject
  19. charge — a price
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. spring — of water
  22. pit — in a race
  23. file — a tool
  24. spell — magic

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