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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. bank — of a river
  4. last — finally
  5. bat — the animal
  6. scale — in music
  7. land — ground
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. shower — rain
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. land — a country
  12. scale — size or range
  13. bank — for money
  14. last — final
  15. shower — to wash
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. ground — the earth
  19. ground — a position
  20. bank — for money
  21. last — to go on
  22. land — to come down
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. bat — in an idiom

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