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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. spring — of water
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. lie — to recline
  6. spring — a coil
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. game — wild animals
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. field — a subject
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. board — a committee
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. file — a line of people
  17. game — a match
  18. field — farmland
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. file — a document
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. field — for sport
  23. spring — the season
  24. board — to get on

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