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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. wound — an injury
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. spring — of water
  5. ground — crushed
  6. ground — a position
  7. mark — a grade
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. pop — music
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. ground — the earth
  12. spring — the season
  13. wound — an injury
  14. spring — a coil
  15. bass — low music
  16. file — a document
  17. file — a tool
  18. bass — the fish
  19. file — a line of people
  20. foot — a measure
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. mark — a trace
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. pop — to visit

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