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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. cap — a lid
  4. file — a tool
  5. field — for sport
  6. perch — the fish
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. rash — hasty
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. field — farmland
  12. cap — a hat
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. file — a line of people
  15. field — a subject
  16. cap — of ice
  17. sharp — clever
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. file — a document
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. wake — a trail
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. rash — a series

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