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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. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. charge — a price
  3. shower — to wash
  4. chest — of your body
  5. staff — a stick
  6. ground — crushed
  7. chest — a box
  8. rash — hasty
  9. ground — the earth
  10. wake — a trail
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. charge — in control
  13. staff — employees
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. pitch — completely
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. charge — electricity
  18. shower — rain
  19. chest — of your body
  20. staff — employees
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. rash — a series
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. rash — on the skin

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