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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. rest — what's left
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. file — a tool
  7. rest — what's left
  8. file — a line of people
  9. rest — a break
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. game — wild animals
  12. object — to protest
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. object — a thing
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. object — an aim
  19. sharp — clever
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. game — a match
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. fine — all right
  24. file — a document

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