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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 120 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 ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. wound — an injury
  3. deal — to handle
  4. field — farmland
  5. root — of a word
  6. file — a document
  7. root — of a plant
  8. march — music
  9. file — a line of people
  10. march — the month
  11. march — the month
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bound — tied together
  14. bound — obliged
  15. wound — an injury
  16. chest — of your body
  17. chest — a box
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. root — the cause
  21. file — a tool
  22. field — for sport
  23. bound — certain
  24. field — a subject

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