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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. pop — music
  3. rash — a series
  4. net — in sport
  5. cold — an illness
  6. drill — the tool
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. snap — to click
  9. pop — to visit
  10. drill — army training
  11. pop — soda
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. rash — hasty
  14. net — for catching
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. cold — not warm
  18. net — after costs
  19. drill — a practice
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. ground — a position
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. ground — the earth

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