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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: fall · game · file · field · race · fork · wax · charge

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. charge — electricity
  3. fork — in a road
  4. game — a match
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. charge — in control
  9. field — farmland
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. file — a document
  12. fall — the season
  13. race — the arms race
  14. race — a contest
  15. game — wild animals
  16. race — humankind
  17. file — a tool
  18. fall — to drop
  19. charge — a price
  20. wax — to grow
  21. fall — to drop
  22. file — a line of people
  23. field — a subject
  24. field — for sport

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