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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. file — a line of people
  6. chest — of your body
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. file — a tool
  9. file — a document
  10. chest — of your body
  11. stand — to bear
  12. chest — a box
  13. rash — a series
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. rash — hasty
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. ground — crushed
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. fork — in a road
  23. plane — a tool
  24. ground — the earth

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