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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: mouse · pit · ground · fall · game · pop · spring · cold

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. spring — the season
  3. fall — to drop
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. ground — crushed
  6. pit — a hole
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. fall — the season
  9. cold — not warm
  10. fall — to drop
  11. game — wild animals
  12. pop — music
  13. spring — of water
  14. ground — a position
  15. game — a match
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. pit — in a race
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. spring — a coil
  21. cold — an illness
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. pop — to visit
  24. pop — soda

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