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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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. rush — hurry
  4. file — a document
  5. shower — to wash
  6. file — a tool
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. land — ground
  9. field — farmland
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. file — a line of people
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. field — a subject
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. field — for sport
  19. pound — a weight
  20. land — a country
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. land — to come down
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. shower — rain

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