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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. ground — crushed
  3. ground — a position
  4. net — after costs
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. net — in sport
  8. ground — the earth
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. file — a document
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. file — a tool
  15. cell — in biology
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. dip — to sink
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. net — for catching
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. chair — a leader
  23. file — a line of people
  24. sharp — clever

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