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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 players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. band — a ring
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. object — an aim
  5. sharp — clever
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. hand — help
  8. band — a music group
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. fork — in a road
  11. pitch — completely
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. file — a tool
  15. object — a thing
  16. object — to protest
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. hand — in cards
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. file — a line of people
  23. file — a document
  24. sharp — exactly

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