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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. spell — magic
  3. ground — crushed
  4. ground — a position
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. fork — in a road
  8. file — a document
  9. spell — letters
  10. file — a tool
  11. content — the amount
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. drill — a practice
  15. land — a country
  16. ground — the earth
  17. content — happy
  18. drill — the tool
  19. drill — army training
  20. sharp — clever
  21. land — to come down
  22. file — a line of people
  23. spell — a short time
  24. land — ground

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