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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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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: cold · saw · field · club · mark · jam · file · perch

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. saw — the tool
  3. club — for golf
  4. file — a tool
  5. saw — the tool
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. club — a group
  8. cold — not warm
  9. club — for dancing
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. file — a document
  13. field — farmland
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. mark — a grade
  16. cold — an illness
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. perch — the fish
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. field — for sport
  21. mark — a trace
  22. file — a line of people
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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