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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. kid — to tease
  4. ball — a dance
  5. file — a document
  6. ball — a great time
  7. file — a tool
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. file — a line of people
  11. kid — child
  12. ground — crushed
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. rush — hurry
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. mine — for digging
  18. lean — thin
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. ground — a position
  21. fork — in a road
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. ground — the earth
  24. mine — an explosive

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