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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 information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. shower — rain
  3. file — a line of people
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. shower — to wash
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. chair — a leader
  10. race — a contest
  11. content — the amount
  12. race — the arms race
  13. field — for sport
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. field — a subject
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. content — happy
  19. race — humankind
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. sharp — clever
  22. field — farmland
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. file — a tool

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