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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. shower — rain
  3. wind — moving air
  4. cold — not warm
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. ground — the earth
  8. game — a match
  9. ground — a position
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. ball — a dance
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. shower — to wash
  17. dip — to sink
  18. game — wild animals
  19. wind — moving air
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. cold — an illness
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. ball — a great time
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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