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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 120 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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. ground — crushed
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. degree — from a university
  5. firm — steady
  6. kid — child
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. degree — temperature
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. firm — a company
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. degree — an amount
  14. lie — to recline
  15. cold — an illness
  16. shower — rain
  17. ground — the earth
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. kid — to tease
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. firm — decided
  23. shower — to wash
  24. cold — not warm

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