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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. last — final
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. foot — a measure
  5. ground — crushed
  6. ground — a position
  7. last — to go on
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. clip — for paper
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. ground — the earth
  14. degree — an amount
  15. degree — temperature
  16. degree — from a university
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. wound — an injury
  19. last — finally
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — to cut
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. nail — for a hammer

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