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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. field — for sport
  3. file — a document
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. wind — moving air
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. land — to come down
  8. field — a subject
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. swing — in golf
  11. swing — music
  12. land — a country
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. file — a tool
  15. swing — to play on
  16. cap — a hat
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. tube — the underground
  19. field — farmland
  20. wind — moving air
  21. file — a line of people
  22. land — ground
  23. tube — a container
  24. cap — of ice

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