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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. bass — low music
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. season — of the year
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. file — a line of people
  9. cold — not warm
  10. file — a document
  11. fork — in a road
  12. land — to come down
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. ground — a position
  15. file — a tool
  16. ground — crushed
  17. land — ground
  18. cold — an illness
  19. land — a country
  20. bass — the fish
  21. season — in sport
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. season — to add flavour

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