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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. ground — crushed
  5. game — wild animals
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. row — to paddle
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. cold — not warm
  10. root — of a plant
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. cold — an illness
  16. sharp — clever
  17. game — a match
  18. ground — a position
  19. ground — the earth
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. row — a line
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. root — of a word
  24. root — the cause

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