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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. file — a line of people
  3. track — a path
  4. spell — letters
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. track — to keep track
  7. file — a tool
  8. track — a song
  9. rock — a stone
  10. spell — magic
  11. tear — from crying
  12. spell — a short time
  13. file — a document
  14. ground — a position
  15. rock — music
  16. net — after costs
  17. net — in sport
  18. tear — to rip
  19. ground — crushed
  20. ground — the earth
  21. wound — an injury
  22. tear — from crying
  23. wound — an injury
  24. net — for catching

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