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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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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: file · craft · ball · mate · lie · shower · ground · mine

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. lie — to recline
  3. mate — a partner
  4. ball — a great time
  5. ground — a position
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. file — a tool
  10. ground — crushed
  11. mate — a friend
  12. file — a document
  13. file — a line of people
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. mine — for digging
  16. shower — rain
  17. craft — boats
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. mate — to breed
  20. ground — the earth
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. ball — a dance
  24. craft — a skill

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