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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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468
Word bank
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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. file — a document
  3. present — the time now
  4. kid — to tease
  5. field — for sport
  6. present — a gift
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. key — for a lock
  9. bat — the animal
  10. tear — from crying
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. kid — child
  15. present — there
  16. field — farmland
  17. key — in music
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. key — the most important part
  20. file — a tool
  21. tear — to rip
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. file — a line of people
  24. tear — from crying

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