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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. mine — for digging
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — not warm
  5. club — for golf
  6. club — a group
  7. track — to keep track
  8. ground — the earth
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. track — a path
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. track — a song
  13. game — a match
  14. ground — crushed
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. ground — a position
  17. squash — to crush
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. club — for dancing
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. game — wild animals
  24. squash — the sport

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