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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: fine · bat · pitcher · press · field · chip · can · file

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. fine — all right
  3. can — a tin
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. press — to push
  6. bat — the animal
  7. file — a document
  8. field — a subject
  9. press — a publisher
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. fine — high quality
  12. field — farmland
  13. press — newspapers
  14. file — a line of people
  15. chip — to eat
  16. file — a tool
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. field — for sport
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. chip — for betting
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. can — a tin

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