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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. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to sink
  2. ground — a position
  3. land — a country
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. game — a match
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. land — to come down
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. ground — crushed
  11. lean — thin
  12. cold — an illness
  13. lean — to bend
  14. game — wild animals
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. ground — the earth
  21. cell — a phone
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. land — ground
  24. cell — in biology

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