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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 water is too ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  10. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. drill — a practice
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. drill — the tool
  9. safe — a strongbox
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. ground — a position
  12. ground — crushed
  13. fall — the season
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. pitch — completely
  16. fall — to drop
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. ground — the earth
  19. fall — to drop
  20. drill — army training
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. fork — in a road
  24. branch — a division

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