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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. game — wild animals
  3. net — in sport
  4. tear — from crying
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. ball — a great time
  9. cold — an illness
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. net — for catching
  12. cold — not warm
  13. ground — a position
  14. ground — crushed
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. net — after costs
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. game — a match
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. tear — from crying
  22. ball — a dance
  23. tear — to rip
  24. lie — to recline

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