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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 120 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. The water is too ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. cold — not warm
  3. ground — crushed
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. fall — to drop
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. tear — to rip
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — an illness
  15. fall — the season
  16. ground — the earth
  17. tear — from crying
  18. pitch — completely
  19. sharp — clever
  20. tear — from crying
  21. vault — a safe
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. fall — to drop

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