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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. ground — the earth
  3. track — a path
  4. ground — a position
  5. file — a line of people
  6. pit — a hole
  7. ground — crushed
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. file — a document
  11. branch — a division
  12. pit — in a race
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. track — to keep track
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. net — in sport
  19. net — for catching
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. file — a tool
  22. track — a song
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. net — after costs

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