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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — to rip
  4. field — for sport
  5. club — for golf
  6. rest — a break
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. fork — in a road
  9. file — a document
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. file — a tool
  13. field — a subject
  14. rest — what's left
  15. roll — a list
  16. tear — from crying
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. club — for dancing
  20. club — a group
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. rest — what's left
  23. field — farmland
  24. file — a line of people

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