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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. hand — in cards
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. cold — an illness
  6. can — a tin
  7. cold — not warm
  8. band — a ring
  9. degree — from a university
  10. hand — help
  11. can — a tin
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. ground — the earth
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. can — to be able to
  16. pass — a permit
  17. ground — a position
  18. band — a music group
  19. degree — an amount
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. degree — temperature

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