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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. wind — moving air
  3. pass — a permit
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. branch — a division
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — a box
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wind — moving air
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. vault — a safe
  13. cold — not warm
  14. season — of the year
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. season — in sport
  21. ground — a position
  22. cold — an illness
  23. ground — the earth
  24. chest — of your 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