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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. stand — to bear
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. content — happy
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. cold — not warm
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. cell — a phone
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. ground — the earth
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — an illness
  16. ground — a position
  17. chair — a leader
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. season — of the year
  21. season — in sport
  22. content — the amount
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. cell — in biology

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