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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. drill — the tool
  3. bound — tied together
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. roll — a list
  8. cold — an illness
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. bound — certain
  11. degree — temperature
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. degree — from a university
  14. kick — in football
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. bound — obliged
  17. ground — the earth
  18. roll — a cake
  19. drill — a practice
  20. ground — a position
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. drill — army training
  23. cold — not warm
  24. degree — an amount

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