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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. stand — to bear
  4. file — a line of people
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. ground — the earth
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. ground — crushed
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. chip — to eat
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. file — a document
  15. file — a tool
  16. fork — in a road
  17. mine — for digging
  18. kid — child
  19. ground — a position
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. sharp — clever
  22. chip — for betting
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. fork — to eat with

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