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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. bore — to tire
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. capital — a city
  11. ground — a position
  12. bore — to drill
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. hand — in cards
  16. hand — help
  17. land — a country
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. ground — the earth
  20. land — ground
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. capital — money
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. land — to come down

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