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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. tear — from crying
  3. mug — a face
  4. ground — a position
  5. tear — to rip
  6. dip — to sink
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. fall — to drop
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — not warm
  11. mate — a partner
  12. mate — a friend
  13. mug — a cup
  14. bass — the fish
  15. mate — to breed
  16. fall — the season
  17. fall — to drop
  18. tear — from crying
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. ground — the earth
  21. bass — low music
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. mug — to rob

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