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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. net — for catching
  3. band — a music group
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. cold — an illness
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. wound — an injury
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. rash — hasty
  13. rash — a series
  14. ground — a position
  15. saw — the tool
  16. band — a ring
  17. sharp — clever
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. net — after costs
  20. ground — crushed
  21. saw — the tool
  22. ground — the earth
  23. cold — not warm
  24. wound — an injury

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