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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: saw · content · file · field · racket · mate · chest · leaves

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  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. mate — a partner
  2. mate — to breed
  3. file — a tool
  4. field — farmland
  5. content — the amount
  6. chest — a box
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. saw — the tool
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. mate — a friend
  15. content — happy
  16. field — for sport
  17. saw — the tool
  18. field — a subject
  19. file — a line of people
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — of your body
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. racket — for tennis
  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