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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. mate — a friend
  4. ground — a position
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. mate — to breed
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. plane — a tool
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. file — a line of people
  14. mate — a partner
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. shower — to wash
  17. shower — rain
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. file — a tool
  21. ground — the earth
  22. ground — crushed
  23. lie — to recline
  24. file — a document

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