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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. chair — a leader
  4. craft — a skill
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. wound — an injury
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. ground — a position
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. wound — an injury
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. game — a match
  16. ground — the earth
  17. craft — boats
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. spring — the season
  20. spring — of water
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. game — wild animals
  23. spring — a coil
  24. pitcher — a jug

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