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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. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — a strongbox
  2. ground — crushed
  3. ground — a position
  4. saw — the tool
  5. fork — in a road
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. hand — in cards
  8. hand — help
  9. saw — the tool
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. spring — a coil
  12. cold — an illness
  13. spring — the season
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bear — the animal
  19. ground — the earth
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. bear — the animal
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. spring — of water

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