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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. band — a ring
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chest — a box
  6. roll — a list
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. ground — the earth
  9. ground — a position
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. drill — army training
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. chest — of your body
  14. drill — the tool
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. pit — a hole
  17. pit — in a race
  18. drill — a practice
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. band — a music group
  22. ground — crushed
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. roll — a cake

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