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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 120 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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. drill — the tool
  3. drill — a practice
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. file — a document
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. file — a line of people
  12. mine — for digging
  13. fine — high quality
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. drill — army training
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. ground — crushed
  19. ground — a position
  20. ground — the earth
  21. fork — in a road
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. sharp — clever
  24. file — a tool

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