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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. ground — the earth
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. file — a document
  5. last — finally
  6. present — the time now
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. net — after costs
  9. cold — not warm
  10. shower — rain
  11. last — to go on
  12. ground — crushed
  13. file — a line of people
  14. present — a gift
  15. ground — a position
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. shower — to wash
  18. net — for catching
  19. net — in sport
  20. board — to get on
  21. present — there
  22. board — a committee
  23. cold — an illness
  24. file — a tool

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