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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: ground · mug · chip · file · spring · game · field · pitcher

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. mug — a cup
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. ground — crushed
  5. file — a tool
  6. game — wild animals
  7. spring — of water
  8. ground — a position
  9. spring — the season
  10. mug — to rob
  11. mug — a face
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. field — for sport
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. spring — a coil
  17. game — a match
  18. field — a subject
  19. field — farmland
  20. chip — to eat
  21. file — a line of people
  22. chip — for betting
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. file — a document

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