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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 120 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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. suit — in cards
  6. spring — of water
  7. field — farmland
  8. spring — a coil
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. spring — the season
  11. suit — to fit
  12. rule — a law
  13. rule — government
  14. suit — clothes
  15. hand — in cards
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. file — a tool
  18. field — for sport
  19. file — a document
  20. fork — in a road
  21. field — a subject
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. hand — help
  24. hand — part of the body

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