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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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. bat — in an idiom
  4. rest — what's left
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. last — final
  7. bat — the animal
  8. file — a tool
  9. file — a document
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. last — to go on
  13. file — a line of people
  14. can — to be able to
  15. rest — a break
  16. current — of water
  17. can — a tin
  18. current — electric
  19. field — a subject
  20. rest — what's left
  21. can — a tin
  22. last — finally
  23. snap — to click
  24. current — happening now

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