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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  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. present — a gift
  2. kid — child
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. drill — army training
  5. present — the time now
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. net — after costs
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. net — for catching
  12. drill — the tool
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. kid — to tease
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. sharp — clever
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. present — there
  19. file — a tool
  20. net — in sport
  21. drill — a practice
  22. date — the fruit
  23. file — a line of people
  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