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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. shower — rain
  3. field — for sport
  4. cap — a lid
  5. bore — to drill
  6. shower — to wash
  7. cap — of ice
  8. last — finally
  9. last — to go on
  10. field — farmland
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. net — after costs
  14. bore — to tire
  15. field — a subject
  16. net — for catching
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. last — final
  20. cap — a hat
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. file — a line of people
  23. file — a document
  24. net — in sport

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