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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. ground — a position
  3. snap — to click
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. cold — not warm
  9. deal — to handle
  10. field — for sport
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. mark — a trace
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. field — farmland
  20. mark — a grade
  21. ground — the earth
  22. field — a subject
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. trunk — of a car

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