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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 124 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. There's no middle ________________.
  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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. rest — what's left
  5. wind — moving air
  6. last — finally
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. rest — a break
  10. last — final
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. cold — not warm
  13. last — to go on
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. rest — what's left
  16. spring — of water
  17. spring — a coil
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. wind — moving air
  20. spring — the season
  21. ground — crushed
  22. ground — the earth
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. trunk — of a tree

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