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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. spring — the season
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. spring — of water
  6. ground — the earth
  7. ground — crushed
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. jam — to spread on bread
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. spring — a coil
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. cold — not warm
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. cold — an illness
  17. kid — to tease
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. kid — child
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. perch — the fish
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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