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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 water is too ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. ground — crushed
  3. staff — employees
  4. last — final
  5. staff — a stick
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. face — to point toward
  8. ground — the earth
  9. wound — an injury
  10. ground — a position
  11. march — the month
  12. face — to confront
  13. wound — an injury
  14. march — music
  15. last — finally
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. craft — a skill
  18. face — part of the head
  19. march — the month
  20. last — to go on
  21. craft — boats
  22. cold — an illness
  23. staff — employees
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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