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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. sharp — clever
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. pop — soda
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. season — of the year
  7. net — for catching
  8. season — in sport
  9. ground — the earth
  10. cold — not warm
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. net — in sport
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. net — after costs
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. ground — crushed
  17. cold — an illness
  18. pop — to visit
  19. row — a line
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. fork — in a road
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. row — to paddle
  24. 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