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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. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. pit — a hole
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. field — farmland
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. field — a subject
  9. chip — for betting
  10. game — wild animals
  11. pit — in a race
  12. file — a line of people
  13. swing — to play on
  14. swing — music
  15. swing — in golf
  16. game — a match
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — not warm
  19. stand — to bear
  20. chip — to eat
  21. file — a tool
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. field — for sport
  24. file — a document

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