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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. file — a document
  3. chair — a leader
  4. saw — the tool
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. hand — help
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. staff — a stick
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. stock — shares
  11. hand — in cards
  12. stock — goods
  13. cap — a hat
  14. staff — employees
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. field — farmland
  17. cap — of ice
  18. field — a subject
  19. field — for sport
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. file — a tool
  22. cap — a lid
  23. saw — the tool
  24. staff — employees

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