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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: drill · rest · field · stock · file · key · saw · last

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. stock — shares
  3. file — a line of people
  4. field — farmland
  5. stock — goods
  6. last — final
  7. key — the most important part
  8. file — a document
  9. key — in music
  10. key — for a lock
  11. file — a tool
  12. drill — army training
  13. saw — the tool
  14. last — to go on
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. drill — the tool
  17. last — finally
  18. rest — a break
  19. field — for sport
  20. drill — a practice
  21. rest — what's left
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. saw — the tool
  24. rest — what's left

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