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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. ground — the earth
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. net — after costs
  6. scale — size or range
  7. shower — to wash
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. ground — a position
  13. present — a gift
  14. mine — for digging
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. present — the time now
  17. shower — rain
  18. ground — crushed
  19. net — in sport
  20. net — for catching
  21. craft — a skill
  22. scale — in music
  23. craft — boats
  24. mouse — the animal

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