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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. season — of the year
  3. season — in sport
  4. cold — an illness
  5. shower — rain
  6. ground — a position
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. bear — the animal
  10. shower — to wash
  11. ground — crushed
  12. stock — goods
  13. land — ground
  14. saw — the tool
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. bear — the animal
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. land — to come down
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. land — a country
  21. stock — shares
  22. saw — the tool
  23. cold — not warm
  24. ground — the earth

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