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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. field — farmland
  3. ground — crushed
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. ground — the earth
  6. ground — a position
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. field — a subject
  10. march — music
  11. file — a document
  12. content — the amount
  13. file — a tool
  14. file — a line of people
  15. club — for dancing
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. club — for golf
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. march — the month
  21. club — a group
  22. content — happy
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. march — the month

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