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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. mate — a friend
  4. file — a line of people
  5. field — for sport
  6. field — a subject
  7. mate — to breed
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. wind — moving air
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. file — a document
  12. root — of a plant
  13. root — the cause
  14. last — to go on
  15. wind — moving air
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. last — final
  18. rush — hurry
  19. file — a tool
  20. last — finally
  21. root — of a word
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. mate — a partner

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