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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. ground — the earth
  4. rash — hasty
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. ground — a position
  7. ground — crushed
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. lean — to bend
  11. net — in sport
  12. swing — music
  13. pit — in a race
  14. swing — to play on
  15. game — wild animals
  16. rash — a series
  17. game — a match
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. swing — in golf
  20. scale — size or range
  21. pit — a hole
  22. lean — thin
  23. net — after costs
  24. scale — in music

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