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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. ground — the earth
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. ground — crushed
  5. ground — a position
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. net — after costs
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. game — a match
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. file — a document
  13. net — in sport
  14. wound — an injury
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. game — wild animals
  17. file — a line of people
  18. file — a tool
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. net — for catching
  24. coach — a trainer

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