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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. game — wild animals
  3. bass — the fish
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. bass — low music
  6. wound — an injury
  7. spring — the season
  8. ground — the earth
  9. court — of a king
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. last — to go on
  14. ground — a position
  15. court — for sport
  16. last — final
  17. spring — of water
  18. last — finally
  19. wound — an injury
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. dip — to sink
  22. court — of law
  23. game — a match
  24. spring — a coil

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