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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. rest — what's left
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. field — a subject
  6. snap — to click
  7. file — a line of people
  8. face — to confront
  9. mug — to rob
  10. field — for sport
  11. face — to point toward
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — a break
  14. bulb — for light
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. mug — a cup
  18. face — part of the head
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. file — a tool
  21. branch — a division
  22. field — farmland
  23. bulb — for light
  24. file — a document

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