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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. hand — in cards
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. season — in sport
  5. bound — tied together
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. pitch — completely
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. bound — obliged
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. ground — crushed
  12. saw — the tool
  13. hand — help
  14. perch — the fish
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. press — to push
  18. press — newspapers
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. season — of the year
  21. press — a publisher
  22. bound — certain
  23. ground — the earth
  24. saw — the tool

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