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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. ground — the earth
  3. bat — the animal
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. race — a contest
  6. race — humankind
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. saw — the tool
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. race — the arms race
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. bear — the animal
  15. bear — the animal
  16. ground — a position
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. sharp — clever
  19. cold — an illness
  20. ground — crushed
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. stand — to bear

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