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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 116 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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. stand — to bear
  3. ground — a position
  4. ball — a dance
  5. clip — a video
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. ground — crushed
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. clip — to cut
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. fork — in a road
  15. cold — not warm
  16. clip — for paper
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. ball — a great time
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. cold — an illness
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. ground — the earth
  24. cold — the Cold War

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