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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. present — the time now
  4. ground — crushed
  5. bat — the animal
  6. net — for catching
  7. file — a document
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. present — a gift
  10. present — there
  11. file — a line of people
  12. ball — a great time
  13. ground — a position
  14. file — a tool
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. net — after costs
  17. net — in sport
  18. ground — the earth

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