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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. last — to go on
  3. last — final
  4. file — a tool
  5. file — a document
  6. shower — rain
  7. file — a line of people
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. march — the month
  10. net — after costs
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. last — finally
  14. spell — magic
  15. ground — the earth
  16. net — in sport
  17. net — for catching
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. spell — letters
  20. march — the month
  21. spell — a short time
  22. ground — a position
  23. shower — to wash
  24. march — music

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