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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. ground — a position
  3. game — a match
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. rash — a series
  6. band — a ring
  7. staff — a stick
  8. band — a music group
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. content — happy
  11. ground — the earth
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. ground — crushed
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. content — the amount
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. staff — employees
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. rash — hasty
  24. game — wild animals

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