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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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. charge — electricity
  3. tear — to rip
  4. charge — a price
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. tear — from crying
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. spring — of water
  9. tear — from crying
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. club — for dancing
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. squash — the sport
  14. file — a line of people
  15. spring — the season
  16. field — farmland
  17. club — a group
  18. club — for golf
  19. file — a tool
  20. charge — in control
  21. squash — to crush
  22. field — a subject
  23. spring — a coil
  24. field — for 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