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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 124 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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. ground — crushed
  3. bear — the animal
  4. march — the month
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. roll — a cake
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. hand — in cards
  10. chest — of your body
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. chest — of your body
  13. march — the month
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. hand — help
  16. ground — the earth
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. sharp — clever
  19. bear — the animal
  20. chest — a box
  21. ground — a position
  22. march — music
  23. roll — a list
  24. sharp — with an edge

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