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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — not warm
  4. sharp — clever
  5. track — a path
  6. scale — in music
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. present — there
  9. net — in sport
  10. present — a gift
  11. pop — soda
  12. net — after costs
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. pop — to visit
  16. track — a song
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. scale — size or range
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. pop — music
  21. present — the time now
  22. net — for catching
  23. fine — high quality
  24. track — to keep track

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