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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. ground — crushed
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. file — a line of people
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. pound — a weight
  9. game — a match
  10. file — a tool
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. game — wild animals
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. rest — a break
  15. ground — a position
  16. date — the fruit
  17. court — for sport
  18. file — a document
  19. court — of law
  20. rest — what's left
  21. ground — the earth
  22. court — of a king
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. pound — to hit hard

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