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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. ground — the earth
  3. ground — crushed
  4. plane — a tool
  5. drill — army training
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — an illness
  8. drill — a practice
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. cold — not warm
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. ground — a position
  19. wake — a trail
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. drill — the tool
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. plane — in geometry

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