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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. stand — to bear
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. snap — to click
  8. ground — crushed
  9. hand — help
  10. hand — in cards
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. ground — the earth
  14. cold — an illness
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. root — of a plant
  18. cold — not warm
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. root — the cause
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. root — of a word
  24. ground — a position

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