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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. ground — a position
  3. ground — crushed
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. board — a committee
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. chest — of your body
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. wind — moving air
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. chest — a box
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. chest — of your body
  18. board — to get on
  19. snap — to click
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. cold — not warm
  22. ground — the earth
  23. cold — an illness
  24. wind — moving air

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