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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cold — an illness
  3. ground — crushed
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. row — a line
  8. sharp — clever
  9. ground — a position
  10. cold — not warm
  11. mark — a grade
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. season — of the year
  17. ground — the earth
  18. chair — a leader
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. season — in sport
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. row — to paddle
  24. mark — a trace

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