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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. file — a line of people
  4. game — a match
  5. field — for sport
  6. spring — a coil
  7. game — wild animals
  8. file — a document
  9. spring — the season
  10. swing — music
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. wax — to grow
  13. field — a subject
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. field — farmland
  16. swing — in golf
  17. pit — in a race
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. swing — to play on
  20. spring — of water
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. file — a tool
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. nail — for a hammer

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