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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. charge — a price
  5. ground — crushed
  6. ground — the earth
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. charge — in control
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. charge — electricity
  15. hand — in cards
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. mine — for digging
  18. hand — help
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. ground — a position
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. wake — a trail
  23. cold — an illness
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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