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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. chip — to eat
  4. wake — a trail
  5. file — a document
  6. file — a tool
  7. season — of the year
  8. rule — government
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. rule — a law
  11. prune — to trim
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. field — a subject
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. chair — a leader
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. file — a line of people
  20. season — in sport
  21. field — farmland
  22. prune — to trim
  23. chip — for betting
  24. field — for sport

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