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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: land · row · roll · lash · ground · sharp · mouse · file

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. roll — a cake
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. file — a document
  7. land — ground
  8. file — a tool
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. ground — the earth
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. roll — a list
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. land — a country
  18. ground — a position
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. row — to paddle
  21. sharp — clever
  22. ground — crushed
  23. file — a line of people
  24. row — a line

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