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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 walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  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. file — a line of people
  2. rest — a break
  3. cold — not warm
  4. net — for catching
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. file — a tool
  7. bore — to drill
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. net — after costs
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. wake — a trail
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — what's left
  14. ground — crushed
  15. file — a document
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. net — in sport
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. sharp — clever
  21. bore — to tire
  22. cold — an illness
  23. ground — a position
  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