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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. ground — the earth
  3. ground — crushed
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. bore — to drill
  8. bear — the animal
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. cold — not warm
  11. game — wild animals
  12. hand — help
  13. hand — in cards
  14. game — a match
  15. bear — the animal
  16. bore — to tire
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. ground — a position
  20. pitch — completely
  21. cold — an illness
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. hand — part of the body

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