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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.

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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. spring — a coil
  3. ground — crushed
  4. ground — the earth
  5. spring — the season
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. season — in sport
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. cold — not warm
  10. rock — a stone
  11. pass — a permit
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. wound — an injury
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. wound — an injury
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. ground — a position
  18. spring — of water
  19. season — of the year
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — the Cold War

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