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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. cold — not warm
  4. fork — in a road
  5. land — ground
  6. lean — thin
  7. track — a path
  8. track — to keep track
  9. ground — the earth
  10. ground — a position
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. land — to come down
  13. net — after costs
  14. lean — to bend
  15. wax — to grow
  16. land — a country
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. net — in sport
  19. net — for catching
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. track — a song
  24. fork — a garden tool

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