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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. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. ground — a position
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. staff — employees
  11. ground — the earth
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. cold — an illness
  14. ground — crushed
  15. staff — employees
  16. kid — to tease
  17. cold — not warm
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. kid — child
  21. mine — for digging
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. staff — a stick
  24. deal — to handle

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