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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. ground — crushed
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. ground — the earth
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. date — the fruit
  9. bat — the animal
  10. field — a subject
  11. last — finally
  12. bear — the animal
  13. last — to go on
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. ground — a position
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. last — final
  18. field — for sport
  19. pound — a weight
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. field — farmland
  22. sharp — clever
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. bear — the animal

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