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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 120 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: spring · file · field · lie · straw · rule · coach · wind

  1. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. 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. lie — an untruth
  2. file — a line of people
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. field — farmland
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. file — a document
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. spring — of water
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — moving air
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. lie — to recline
  15. rule — government
  16. spring — the season
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. field — a subject
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. spring — a coil
  22. rule — a law
  23. field — for sport
  24. 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