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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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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: ball · net · bat · ground · present · file · race · shower

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. bat — the animal
  3. race — a contest
  4. ball — a great time
  5. ground — the earth
  6. file — a line of people
  7. race — the arms race
  8. race — humankind
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. ball — a dance
  11. present — there
  12. present — a gift
  13. file — a tool
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. ground — a position
  16. net — for catching
  17. shower — rain
  18. net — after costs
  19. file — a document
  20. shower — to wash
  21. ground — crushed
  22. net — in sport
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. present — the time now

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