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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. last — finally
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. stand — to bear
  6. pop — music
  7. last — final
  8. net — for catching
  9. bound — certain
  10. bound — obliged
  11. ground — the earth
  12. net — in sport
  13. shower — rain
  14. shower — to wash
  15. net — after costs
  16. game — a match
  17. ground — a position
  18. bound — tied together
  19. pop — soda
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. last — to go on
  22. game — wild animals
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. pop — to visit

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