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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: coach · foot · hand · ground · fine · file

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. ground — crushed
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. file — a line of people
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. ground — the earth
  8. fine — all right
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. file — a document
  11. fine — high quality
  12. foot — a measure
  13. ground — a position
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. file — a tool
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. hand — in cards

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