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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. file — a tool
  3. ground — crushed
  4. ground — the earth
  5. net — after costs
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. bat — the animal
  9. court — for sport
  10. court — of law
  11. file — a line of people
  12. net — for catching
  13. stem — to come from
  14. court — of a king
  15. net — in sport
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. file — a document
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. kid — to tease
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. kid — child

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