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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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Word bank
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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 walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. clip — for paper
  3. field — a subject
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. file — a document
  6. root — the cause
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. root — of a word
  9. field — farmland
  10. fork — in a road
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. chest — of your body
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. wound — an injury
  16. field — for sport
  17. root — of a plant
  18. wound — an injury
  19. clip — a video
  20. file — a tool
  21. clip — to cut
  22. chest — of your body
  23. chest — a box
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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