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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. deal — to handle
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. ground — the earth
  5. file — a document
  6. file — a tool
  7. degree — from a university
  8. hand — help
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. degree — temperature
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. roll — a cake
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. wake — a trail
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. file — a line of people
  21. ground — a position
  22. degree — an amount
  23. hand — in cards
  24. roll — a list

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