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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. fall — to drop
  3. race — the arms race
  4. fall — to drop
  5. content — the amount
  6. file — a document
  7. race — humankind
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. hand — help
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. file — a tool
  13. field — a subject
  14. content — happy
  15. saw — the tool
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. field — farmland
  19. race — a contest
  20. file — a line of people
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. field — for sport
  23. fall — the season
  24. saw — the tool

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