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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: bear · rush · field · snap · bowl · kid · file · mine

  1. That must've been a ________________.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. bear — the animal
  4. field — farmland
  5. snap — to click
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. kid — to tease
  12. field — a subject
  13. mine — for digging
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. file — a document
  16. file — a line of people
  17. field — for sport
  18. bear — the animal
  19. file — a tool
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. kid — child
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. rush — hurry
  24. mine — belonging to me

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