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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. field — farmland
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. kid — child
  6. wind — moving air
  7. file — a line of people
  8. track — to keep track
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. field — for sport
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. wind — moving air
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. file — a document
  16. season — in sport
  17. kid — to tease
  18. track — a path
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. season — of the year
  21. field — a subject
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. file — a tool
  24. track — a song

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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