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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. ground — crushed
  3. last — finally
  4. last — final
  5. content — happy
  6. snap — to click
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. cap — a lid
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. cap — of ice
  11. content — the amount
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. ground — the earth
  15. last — to go on
  16. season — of the year
  17. season — in sport
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. cap — a hat
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. kid — to tease
  24. coach — a trainer

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