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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 116 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. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — happening now
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — from crying
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. drill — a practice
  7. field — for sport
  8. field — farmland
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. plane — a tool
  12. tear — to rip
  13. drill — the tool
  14. file — a line of people
  15. current — electric
  16. drill — army training
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. hand — in cards
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. file — a tool
  21. file — a document
  22. field — a subject
  23. hand — help
  24. current — of water

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