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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. ground — a position
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. sharp — clever
  7. key — the most important part
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. net — in sport
  10. file — a document
  11. net — after costs
  12. bear — the animal
  13. ground — the earth
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. ground — crushed
  16. key — for a lock
  17. file — a line of people
  18. net — for catching
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. bat — the animal
  21. file — a tool
  22. bear — the animal
  23. key — in music
  24. dip — to sink

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