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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. land — ground
  3. ground — a position
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. net — in sport
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. land — to come down
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. land — a country
  11. net — for catching
  12. dip — to sink
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. cold — not warm
  15. sharp — clever
  16. net — after costs
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. mug — a face
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. mug — a cup
  21. ground — the earth
  22. ground — crushed
  23. mug — to rob
  24. sharp — exactly

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