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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 would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. wound — an injury
  3. rest — what's left
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. cue — for pool
  7. net — after costs
  8. net — for catching
  9. wound — an injury
  10. cue — a hint
  11. rest — what's left
  12. net — in sport
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. hand — help
  15. ground — crushed
  16. file — a tool
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. ground — the earth
  19. ground — a position
  20. file — a document
  21. file — a line of people
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. cue — a signal
  24. hand — in cards

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