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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 120 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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. fall — to drop
  3. season — of the year
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. drill — army training
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. fall — the season
  8. wake — a trail
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. spring — the season
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. spring — a coil
  13. ground — crushed
  14. drill — a practice
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. season — in sport
  18. ground — the earth
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. fall — to drop
  21. sharp — clever
  22. drill — the tool
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. spring — of water

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