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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. ground — crushed
  3. rest — a break
  4. ground — a position
  5. ground — the earth
  6. pit — in a race
  7. field — farmland
  8. rest — what's left
  9. rash — a series
  10. rash — hasty
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. rest — what's left
  13. field — a subject
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. field — for sport
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. stand — to bear
  19. cold — not warm
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. cold — an illness
  22. pit — a hole
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. stand — for spectators

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