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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 · file · roll · chair · stand · sharp · net · snap

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. net — after costs
  3. chair — a leader
  4. net — in sport
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. snap — to click
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. roll — a cake
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. file — a document
  13. ground — a position
  14. ground — crushed
  15. file — a line of people
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. sharp — clever
  21. net — for catching
  22. file — a tool
  23. roll — a list
  24. ground — the earth

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