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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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. hand — in cards
  4. ground — a position
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. ground — the earth
  7. pitch — completely
  8. hand — help
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. wake — a trail
  14. degree — an amount
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. ground — crushed
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. cold — an illness
  19. degree — temperature
  20. bound — certain
  21. degree — from a university
  22. bound — obliged
  23. cold — not warm
  24. fan — a supporter

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