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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: field · spell · calf · file · kid · shower

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. file — a document
  3. field — a subject
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. kid — to tease
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. spell — letters
  9. spell — magic
  10. kid — child
  11. shower — rain
  12. field — farmland
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. spell — a short time
  15. shower — to wash
  16. file — a line of people
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. file — a tool

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