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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. wind — moving air
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. cold — not warm
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. ground — the earth
  8. pass — a permit
  9. shower — to wash
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. ground — crushed
  14. wind — moving air
  15. shower — rain
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. cold — an illness

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