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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. key — the most important part
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. mine — for digging
  5. fine — high quality
  6. game — wild animals
  7. ground — the earth
  8. pitch — completely
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. cold — an illness
  11. ground — crushed
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. key — for a lock
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. fine — all right
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. ground — a position
  20. game — a match
  21. wound — an injury
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. key — in music
  24. wound — an injury

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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