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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: ground · ball · file · chair · march · tear · rush · pitcher

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. ball — a dance
  3. rush — hurry
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. tear — from crying
  6. ground — a position
  7. file — a line of people
  8. tear — to rip
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. march — music
  11. ground — the earth
  12. chair — a leader
  13. march — the month
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. ground — crushed
  16. tear — from crying
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. file — a tool
  21. ball — a great time
  22. file — a document
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. march — the month

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