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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 124 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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. file — a tool
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. field — farmland
  8. cap — of ice
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. cap — a lid
  12. file — a document
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. fork — in a road
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. field — a subject
  18. file — a line of people
  19. content — happy
  20. cap — a hat
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. content — the amount

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