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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · rest · mine · bass · land · file · stick · game

  1. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — to attach or keep to
  2. bass — low music
  3. field — farmland
  4. game — a match
  5. land — ground
  6. land — a country
  7. land — to come down
  8. file — a tool
  9. field — a subject
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. field — for sport
  12. rest — what's left
  13. mine — for digging
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. rest — a break
  16. rest — what's left
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. file — a line of people
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. file — a document
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. game — wild animals
  24. bass — the fish

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