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

Word bank: deal · rock · field · cell · fork · file · band · mine

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. field — a subject
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. cell — a phone
  7. band — a ring
  8. deal — to handle
  9. file — a document
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. cell — in biology
  12. field — for sport
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. rock — a stone
  17. field — farmland
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. fork — in a road
  20. band — a music group
  21. file — a tool
  22. file — a line of people
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. rock — music

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