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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 116 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 water is too ________________.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. drill — the tool
  3. ground — a position
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. cold — an illness
  6. ground — crushed
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. dip — to sink
  9. ground — the earth
  10. drill — a practice
  11. court — of a king
  12. pit — a hole
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. rush — hurry
  16. court — of law
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. court — for sport
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. drill — army training
  24. pit — in a race

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