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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 120 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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. ground — crushed
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. land — a country
  6. hand — in cards
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. land — ground
  10. wind — moving air
  11. ground — a position
  12. land — to come down
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. wind — moving air
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. sharp — clever
  18. pound — a weight
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. cold — an illness
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. hand — help

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