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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. cap — a hat
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. field — farmland
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. ground — a position
  8. field — a subject
  9. scale — size or range
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. cap — of ice
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. sharp — clever
  15. scale — in music
  16. cap — a lid
  17. band — a ring
  18. mine — for digging
  19. band — a music group
  20. ground — crushed
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. ground — the earth
  24. field — for sport

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