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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. ground — crushed
  3. capital — money
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. sharp — clever
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. date — the fruit
  9. net — in sport
  10. net — for catching
  11. ground — the earth
  12. mine — for digging
  13. capital — a city
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. net — after costs
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. rash — hasty
  19. pitch — completely
  20. rash — a series
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. date — on the calendar

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