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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. firm — a company
  3. degree — an amount
  4. firm — steady
  5. field — for sport
  6. degree — from a university
  7. face — to point toward
  8. present — there
  9. clip — for paper
  10. face — part of the head
  11. field — a subject
  12. pitch — completely
  13. face — to confront
  14. clip — a video
  15. present — a gift
  16. clip — to cut
  17. file — a document
  18. file — a tool
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. present — the time now
  21. degree — temperature
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. firm — decided
  24. field — farmland

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