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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. sharp — clever
  3. ground — a position
  4. file — a tool
  5. craft — boats
  6. file — a document
  7. ground — crushed
  8. field — farmland
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. land — to come down
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. field — a subject
  13. ground — the earth
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. land — ground
  17. file — a line of people
  18. field — for sport
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. land — a country
  22. craft — a skill
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. wake — a trail

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