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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. band — a music group
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. ground — crushed
  6. degree — from a university
  7. land — ground
  8. band — a ring
  9. file — a document
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. land — to come down
  12. pop — soda
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. ground — the earth
  15. file — a line of people
  16. pop — to visit
  17. land — a country
  18. file — a tool
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. lean — to bend
  21. pop — music
  22. degree — temperature
  23. lean — thin
  24. degree — an amount

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