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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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. spring — of water
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. clip — a video
  6. spring — a coil
  7. file — a tool
  8. sharp — clever
  9. clip — for paper
  10. deal — to handle
  11. clip — to cut
  12. file — a document
  13. ground — the earth
  14. rash — hasty
  15. ground — a position
  16. spring — the season
  17. ground — crushed
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. rash — a series
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. file — a line of people

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