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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 had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  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. drill — a practice
  2. land — a country
  3. ground — a position
  4. ground — crushed
  5. cell — in biology
  6. file — a tool
  7. saw — the tool
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. file — a document
  10. land — to come down
  11. land — ground
  12. file — a line of people
  13. drill — the tool
  14. cell — a phone
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. key — for a lock
  17. key — the most important part
  18. present — the time now
  19. key — in music
  20. drill — army training
  21. present — a gift
  22. present — there
  23. saw — the tool
  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