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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. net — in sport
  3. firm — decided
  4. ground — crushed
  5. net — after costs
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. ground — a position
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. game — a match
  16. net — for catching
  17. firm — steady
  18. wake — a trail
  19. firm — a company
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. plane — a tool
  22. mine — for digging
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. ground — the earth

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