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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 office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. tear — from crying
  3. file — a document
  4. tear — from crying
  5. content — the amount
  6. degree — an amount
  7. field — a subject
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. field — for sport
  10. file — a line of people
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. file — a tool
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. fork — in a road
  15. field — farmland
  16. stand — to bear
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. tear — to rip
  19. staff — employees
  20. content — happy
  21. staff — a stick
  22. degree — from a university
  23. degree — temperature
  24. stand — for spectators

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