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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. drill — a practice
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. game — wild animals
  5. ground — crushed
  6. ground — a position
  7. game — a match
  8. file — a document
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. staff — a stick
  11. drill — the tool
  12. track — a path
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. file — a tool
  16. staff — employees
  17. stem — to come from
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. drill — army training
  20. file — a line of people
  21. pitch — completely
  22. track — to keep track
  23. staff — employees
  24. ground — the earth

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