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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. ground — a position
  3. cold — not warm
  4. lie — to recline
  5. cold — an illness
  6. scale — size or range
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. ground — crushed
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. ground — the earth
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. scale — in music
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. staff — a stick
  22. staff — employees
  23. mine — for digging
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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