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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 116 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: field · wound · game · rest · file · hide · fall · charge

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  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. field — farmland
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. rest — a break
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. fall — to drop
  7. rest — what's left
  8. charge — a price
  9. field — a subject
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. fall — to drop
  12. fall — the season
  13. charge — in control
  14. game — a match
  15. wound — an injury
  16. field — for sport
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. charge — electricity
  19. wound — an injury
  20. file — a document
  21. file — a line of people
  22. game — wild animals
  23. rest — what's left
  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