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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.

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: rush · file · field · cell · clip · calf · rest · wake

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. field — a subject
  3. cell — a phone
  4. rush — hurry
  5. clip — to cut
  6. field — farmland
  7. clip — a video
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. file — a tool
  12. clip — for paper
  13. rest — what's left
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. file — a document
  16. field — for sport
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. cell — in biology
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. wake — a trail
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. file — a line of people
  23. rest — what's left
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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