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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. season — in sport
  3. land — to come down
  4. land — ground
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. shower — rain
  7. season — of the year
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. ground — a position
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. cold — an illness
  12. fork — in a road
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. cold — not warm
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. land — a country
  22. shower — to wash
  23. ground — the earth
  24. hide — animal skin

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