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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: wound · game · snap · fall · field · plane · drill · file

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. game — a match
  3. wound — an injury
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. fall — to drop
  6. drill — the tool
  7. drill — army training
  8. fall — to drop
  9. field — a subject
  10. file — a document
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. file — a tool
  13. drill — a practice
  14. field — for sport
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. fall — the season
  17. file — a line of people
  18. plane — a tool
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. wound — an injury
  21. field — farmland
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. snap — to click

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