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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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. net — in sport
  4. swing — to play on
  5. file — a tool
  6. swing — music
  7. swing — in golf
  8. scale — size or range
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. file — a document
  13. scale — in music
  14. can — a tin
  15. can — to be able to
  16. file — a line of people
  17. net — after costs
  18. pitch — completely
  19. net — for catching
  20. ground — a position
  21. ground — crushed
  22. ground — the earth
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. scale — for weighing

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