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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
468
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: sharp · fine · drill · cell · ground · toast · bat · row

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  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. toast — a drink to someone
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. cell — a phone
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. ground — a position
  9. drill — army training
  10. bat — the animal
  11. row — to paddle
  12. fine — all right
  13. drill — a practice
  14. row — a line
  15. drill — the tool
  16. ground — crushed
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. toast — bread
  20. fine — high quality
  21. sharp — clever
  22. cell — in biology
  23. sharp — exactly
  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