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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. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. tear — from crying
  4. spring — of water
  5. ground — the earth
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. snap — to click
  11. shower — rain
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. ground — crushed
  15. tear — from crying
  16. shower — to wash
  17. capital — a city
  18. pitch — completely
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. capital — money
  21. spring — the season
  22. spring — a coil
  23. ground — a position
  24. tear — to rip

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