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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 120 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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. file — a tool
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. lean — thin
  5. deal — to handle
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. field — for sport
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — an illness
  11. net — in sport
  12. file — a document
  13. fine — all right
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. cold — not warm
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. lean — to bend
  18. file — a line of people
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. field — a subject
  21. net — for catching
  22. field — farmland
  23. net — after costs
  24. fine — high quality

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