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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 120 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 surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. cold — not warm
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. root — the cause
  5. wound — an injury
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. ground — crushed
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. pitch — completely
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. ground — a position
  12. kid — child
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. root — of a word
  16. cold — an illness
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. wound — an injury
  22. kid — to tease
  23. ground — the earth
  24. root — of a plant

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