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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 120 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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. cue — a signal
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. row — to paddle
  5. ground — the earth
  6. drill — the tool
  7. cue — a hint
  8. wake — a trail
  9. drill — a practice
  10. wound — an injury
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. row — a line
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cue — for pool
  18. cold — not warm
  19. ground — a position
  20. drill — army training
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. cold — an illness
  23. bowl — to roll
  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