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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 120 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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. ground — the earth
  3. ground — crushed
  4. net — in sport
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. degree — from a university
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. drill — the tool
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. drill — army training
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. band — a ring
  15. net — after costs
  16. ground — a position
  17. degree — temperature
  18. band — a music group
  19. drill — a practice
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. degree — an amount
  22. ball — a dance
  23. net — for catching
  24. straw — dry grass

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