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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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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 ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. net — for catching
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. ground — crushed
  5. net — in sport
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. file — a line of people
  12. scale — in music
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. file — a document
  16. scale — size or range
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. net — after costs
  19. mine — for digging
  20. file — a tool
  21. ground — a position
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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