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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. ground — crushed
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. pit — a hole
  6. ground — the earth
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. pit — in a race
  9. wind — moving air
  10. ground — a position
  11. hand — help
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. wind — moving air
  14. stand — to bear
  15. degree — from a university
  16. hand — in cards
  17. degree — an amount
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. game — a match
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. degree — temperature

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