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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. fall — to drop
  3. ball — a great time
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. roll — a list
  6. ground — the earth
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. band — a music group
  9. ground — a position
  10. roll — a cake
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. scale — size or range
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. mine — for digging
  16. fall — the season
  17. scale — in music
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. fall — to drop
  21. band — a ring
  22. ball — a dance
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. nail — for a hammer

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