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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 116 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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. scale — in music
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. cold — not warm
  5. field — for sport
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. present — there
  10. present — a gift
  11. wound — an injury
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. rash — a series
  14. cold — an illness
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. wound — an injury
  17. field — farmland
  18. field — a subject
  19. ground — a position
  20. scale — size or range
  21. rash — hasty
  22. present — the time now
  23. ground — crushed
  24. ground — the earth

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