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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. file — a tool
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. lean — to bend
  5. file — a document
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. bat — the animal
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. fine — high quality
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. file — a line of people
  13. mine — for digging
  14. field — a subject
  15. fine — all right
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. field — farmland
  20. march — music
  21. perch — the fish
  22. field — for sport
  23. lean — thin
  24. march — the month

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