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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. file — a document
  4. file — a tool
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. track — a path
  8. file — a line of people
  9. key — for a lock
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. bat — the animal
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. field — a subject
  14. track — to keep track
  15. field — farmland
  16. field — for sport
  17. fine — high quality
  18. wind — moving air
  19. fine — all right
  20. key — the most important part
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. key — in music
  23. wind — moving air
  24. track — a song

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