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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 120 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: net · field · fall · file · hand · ground · rush · face

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. fall — the season
  3. hand — help
  4. face — to confront
  5. fall — to drop
  6. net — for catching
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. file — a tool
  10. rush — hurry
  11. net — in sport
  12. ground — crushed
  13. net — after costs
  14. file — a document
  15. face — to point toward
  16. face — part of the head
  17. ground — the earth
  18. hand — in cards
  19. fall — to drop
  20. file — a line of people
  21. field — for sport
  22. field — farmland
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. field — a subject

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