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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 seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. ground — crushed
  3. bound — tied together
  4. rash — hasty
  5. bound — certain
  6. spell — letters
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. rash — a series
  9. lie — to recline
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. spell — magic
  12. track — a path
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. track — a song
  15. cold — an illness
  16. track — to keep track
  17. spell — a short time
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. ground — the earth
  20. bound — obliged
  21. chair — a leader
  22. ground — a position
  23. chair — a professorship
  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