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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  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 tool
  2. hand — in cards
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. hand — help
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. bass — the fish
  7. mate — a friend
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. field — a subject
  11. field — farmland
  12. wake — a trail
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. file — a document
  15. bass — low music
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. mate — a partner
  18. plane — a tool
  19. file — a line of people
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. mate — to breed
  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