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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. file — a tool
  4. track — to keep track
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. track — a song
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bear — the animal
  11. game — a match
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. track — a path
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. file — a line of people
  16. ground — the earth
  17. file — a document
  18. rush — hurry
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. bear — the animal
  21. ground — crushed
  22. game — wild animals
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. bat — in an idiom

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