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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 124 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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. ground — a position
  3. ground — the earth
  4. cold — an illness
  5. drill — the tool
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. drill — a practice
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. cold — not warm
  10. capital — money
  11. season — of the year
  12. firm — decided
  13. capital — a city
  14. press — newspapers
  15. season — in sport
  16. bark — to shout
  17. ground — crushed
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. drill — army training
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. press — to push
  23. press — a publisher
  24. firm — a company

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