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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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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: chair · field · wave · foot · mate · tube · file · snap

  1. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. file — a tool
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. field — for sport
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. mate — a friend
  8. tube — the underground
  9. mate — to breed
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. chair — a leader
  12. snap — to click
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. foot — a measure
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. field — a subject
  18. mate — a partner
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. file — a document
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. tube — a container
  24. file — a line of people

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