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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. hand — help
  3. shower — to wash
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. season — of the year
  7. drill — the tool
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. drill — a practice
  11. hand — in cards
  12. drill — army training
  13. staff — employees
  14. sharp — clever
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. staff — a stick
  17. ground — the earth
  18. ground — a position
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. shower — rain
  22. season — in sport
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. staff — employees

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