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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. file — a document
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. file — a line of people
  7. last — final
  8. ground — a position
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. wound — an injury
  11. ground — the earth
  12. last — to go on
  13. ground — crushed
  14. wound — an injury
  15. sharp — clever
  16. file — a tool
  17. last — finally
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. mark — a trace
  21. mark — a grade
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. pitch — completely

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