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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. net — for catching
  3. cold — not warm
  4. club — for golf
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. ground — crushed
  7. tear — to rip
  8. cold — an illness
  9. stem — to come from
  10. tear — from crying
  11. club — for dancing
  12. ground — the earth
  13. can — a tin
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. sharp — clever
  16. net — in sport
  17. net — after costs
  18. tear — from crying
  19. can — a tin
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. can — to be able to
  22. club — a group
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. ground — a position

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