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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 116 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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  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. file — a line of people
  2. face — to point toward
  3. court — for sport
  4. field — farmland
  5. race — a contest
  6. file — a document
  7. root — of a word
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. field — for sport
  12. snap — to click
  13. root — the cause
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. court — of law
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. face — part of the head
  18. race — the arms race
  19. court — of a king
  20. root — of a plant
  21. race — humankind
  22. file — a tool
  23. face — to confront
  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