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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. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. ground — the earth
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. ground — a position
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. stand — to bear
  7. date — the fruit
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. roll — a cake
  10. roll — a list
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bass — the fish
  13. spring — a coil
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. spring — the season
  16. clip — to cut
  17. clip — for paper
  18. clip — a video
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cold — not warm
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. ground — crushed
  23. spring — of water
  24. bass — low music

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