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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. wound — an injury
  3. scale — size or range
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. capital — money
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. rash — a series
  10. rash — hasty
  11. can — to be able to
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. ground — the earth
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. ground — crushed
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. cold — an illness
  18. scale — in music
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. capital — a city
  21. ground — a position
  22. can — a tin
  23. can — a tin
  24. wound — an injury

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