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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 124 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 need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. net — after costs
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. mine — for digging
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. sharp — clever
  7. tube — a container
  8. net — for catching
  9. drill — a practice
  10. net — in sport
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. roll — a cake
  13. drill — army training
  14. tube — the underground
  15. file — a line of people
  16. track — a path
  17. file — a tool
  18. roll — a list
  19. track — to keep track
  20. file — a document
  21. track — a song
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. sharp — exactly

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