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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. kid — child
  3. club — for dancing
  4. kid — to tease
  5. bulb — for light
  6. file — a line of people
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. club — for golf
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. field — farmland
  12. wound — an injury
  13. field — for sport
  14. wound — an injury
  15. club — a group
  16. pound — a weight
  17. file — a document
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. bulb — for light
  23. field — a subject
  24. racket — a loud noise

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