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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 116 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 hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. ground — the earth
  3. sharp — clever
  4. ground — crushed
  5. season — in sport
  6. hand — help
  7. squash — the sport
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. row — to paddle
  11. saw — the tool
  12. hand — in cards
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. saw — the tool
  16. row — a line
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. wind — moving air
  19. season — of the year
  20. ground — a position
  21. wind — moving air
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. squash — to crush

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