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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 116 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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  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. mine — an explosive
  2. staff — employees
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. staff — employees
  5. pop — soda
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. pop — to visit
  8. ground — crushed
  9. pound — a weight
  10. game — a match
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. file — a tool
  13. file — a document
  14. ground — a position
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. staff — a stick
  17. pop — music
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. ground — the earth
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. game — wild animals
  22. mine — for digging
  23. fork — in a road
  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