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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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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: cabinet · fall · hand · pitcher · ground · charge · spring · cold

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. spring — a coil
  4. hand — in cards
  5. ground — a position
  6. ground — crushed
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. fall — the season
  10. spring — of water
  11. charge — a price
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. fall — to drop
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. cold — not warm
  19. charge — in control
  20. spring — the season
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. ground — the earth
  23. charge — electricity
  24. hand — help

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