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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. pit — in a race
  4. bulb — for light
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. cold — not warm
  7. pit — a hole
  8. bulb — for light
  9. board — to get on
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. ground — the earth
  13. land — ground
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. row — a line
  17. land — a country
  18. land — to come down
  19. ground — a position
  20. board — a committee
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. row — to paddle

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