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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. net — in sport
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. file — a document
  6. ground — the earth
  7. net — for catching
  8. file — a tool
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. net — after costs
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. chip — to eat
  13. chip — for betting
  14. rash — hasty
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. mine — for digging
  18. pitch — completely
  19. file — a line of people
  20. ground — crushed
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. rash — a series

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