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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 116 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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. fine — high quality
  3. ground — a position
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. chair — a leader
  6. wind — moving air
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. land — a country
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. wind — moving air
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. land — ground
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. ground — the earth
  16. stand — to bear
  17. land — to come down
  18. ground — crushed

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