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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. shower — rain
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — an illness
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. saw — the tool
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. shower — to wash
  11. mark — a grade
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. cold — not warm
  14. saw — the tool
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. sharp — clever
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. ground — the earth
  21. mark — a trace
  22. ground — crushed
  23. bowl — a football final
  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