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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. file — a document
  3. land — ground
  4. shower — to wash
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. shower — rain
  8. stem — to come from
  9. ball — a great time
  10. land — to come down
  11. file — a line of people
  12. land — a country
  13. ball — a dance
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. chip — for betting
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. file — a tool
  24. chip — to eat

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