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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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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  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. rush — a thrill
  2. key — in music
  3. rush — hurry
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. file — a line of people
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. field — a subject
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. file — a document
  12. key — for a lock
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. land — ground
  15. field — for sport
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. key — the most important part
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. land — to come down
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. land — a country
  22. wake — a trail
  23. field — farmland
  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