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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. snap — to click
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. cold — an illness
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. pound — a weight
  11. fine — all right
  12. ground — a position
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. ground — the earth
  16. last — to go on
  17. cold — not warm
  18. last — final
  19. last — finally
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. fine — high quality
  23. game — a match
  24. ground — crushed

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