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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. ball — a dance
  3. file — a line of people
  4. pop — to visit
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. net — in sport
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. file — a document
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pop — soda
  15. net — for catching
  16. ball — a great time
  17. fork — in a road
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. wake — a trail
  21. net — after costs
  22. pop — music
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. file — a tool

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