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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. ground — crushed
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. key — the most important part
  8. cold — an illness
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. prune — to trim
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. sharp — clever
  14. key — for a lock
  15. lie — to recline
  16. cold — not warm
  17. prune — to trim
  18. ground — a position
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. wind — moving air
  22. key — in music
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. ground — the earth

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