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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. When will it ________________ you to start?
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. suit — in cards
  4. sharp — clever
  5. suit — clothes
  6. cold — not warm
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. hand — in cards
  12. ground — a position
  13. cold — an illness
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. suit — to fit
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. hand — help
  19. ground — the earth
  20. bat — the animal
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. sharp — with an edge

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