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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. ground — a position
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. ground — the earth
  7. field — farmland
  8. roll — a list
  9. roll — a cake
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. pass — a permit
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. cold — not warm
  14. last — final
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. ground — crushed
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. scale — in music
  19. field — a subject
  20. scale — size or range
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. last — to go on
  24. field — for sport

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