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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. game — a match
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. net — after costs
  5. game — wild animals
  6. net — in sport
  7. mark — a grade
  8. ground — the earth
  9. net — for catching
  10. ground — crushed
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. fork — in a road
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. scale — size or range
  15. scale — in music
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. mark — a trace
  18. ground — a position

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