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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. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. roll — a list
  5. ground — a position
  6. wound — an injury
  7. roll — a cake
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. wound — an injury
  11. ground — the earth
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. cold — an illness
  14. capital — money
  15. capital — a city
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. ground — crushed
  20. pass — a permit
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. cold — not warm
  24. capital — a big letter

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