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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 information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a document
  2. object — to protest
  3. field — farmland
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. hand — in cards
  6. object — an aim
  7. field — a subject
  8. file — a tool
  9. field — for sport
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. mine — for digging
  13. hand — help
  14. game — wild animals
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. deal — to handle
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. object — a thing
  21. file — a line of people
  22. game — a match
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. game — a kind of play

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