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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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. ground — a position
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. cold — not warm
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. cold — an illness
  10. squash — the sport
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. ground — crushed
  15. saw — the tool
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. ground — the earth
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. squash — to crush
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. fork — in a road
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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