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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. spring — a coil
  5. chair — a leader
  6. wind — moving air
  7. spring — of water
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. race — a contest
  10. mate — to breed
  11. race — the arms race
  12. race — humankind
  13. ground — crushed
  14. ground — the earth
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. mate — a partner
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. wind — moving air
  21. mate — a friend
  22. kick — in football
  23. spring — the season
  24. pitcher — a jug

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