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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. rash — hasty
  5. mine — for digging
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. row — a line
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. ground — a position
  11. rash — a series
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. sharp — clever
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. row — to paddle
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. stand — to bear
  19. ground — crushed
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. ground — the earth
  24. stand — for spectators

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