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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. shower — to wash
  3. ground — crushed
  4. season — in sport
  5. cold — an illness
  6. tear — from crying
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. season — of the year
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. tear — to rip
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. cold — not warm
  13. press — newspapers
  14. ground — a position
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. press — a publisher
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. stock — shares
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. press — to push
  22. tear — from crying
  23. stock — goods
  24. shower — rain

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