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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  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. rest — a break
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. fall — the season
  4. spell — a short time
  5. rest — what's left
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. clip — to cut
  8. field — for sport
  9. file — a document
  10. fall — to drop
  11. rest — what's left
  12. field — farmland
  13. field — a subject
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. clip — for paper
  16. file — a line of people
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. clip — a video
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. spell — magic
  21. fall — to drop
  22. pass — a permit
  23. spell — letters
  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