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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: stock · nail · field · wound · swing · last · ground · file

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. swing — music
  3. field — for sport
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. file — a document
  6. ground — a position
  7. wound — an injury
  8. ground — crushed
  9. field — farmland
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. last — to go on
  12. file — a tool
  13. stock — goods
  14. wound — an injury
  15. field — a subject
  16. swing — to play on
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. stock — shares
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. last — finally
  21. ground — the earth
  22. file — a line of people
  23. swing — in golf
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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