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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. bat — the animal
  3. ground — crushed
  4. ground — the earth
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. branch — a division
  8. ground — a position
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bass — the fish
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. cold — not warm
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. bass — low music
  18. cold — an illness
  19. march — the month
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. march — the month
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. march — music
  24. hide — to keep secret

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