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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. ground — crushed
  3. scale — size or range
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. net — in sport
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. game — a match
  8. hand — in cards
  9. pop — soda
  10. rash — a series
  11. scale — in music
  12. rash — hasty
  13. ground — the earth
  14. net — for catching
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. pop — music
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. hand — help
  20. net — after costs
  21. pop — to visit
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. ground — a position
  24. game — wild animals

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