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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 can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. ground — crushed
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. rule — government
  5. craft — boats
  6. cold — an illness
  7. ground — a position
  8. pound — a weight
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. cold — not warm
  15. rule — a law
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. ground — the earth
  18. bat — the animal
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. craft — a skill
  24. stand — for spectators

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