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

Word bank: wound · cold · bowl · mark · deal · ground · kick · mine

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. mine — for digging
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. kick — in football
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. deal — to handle
  7. ground — the earth
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. wound — an injury
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. mark — a trace
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. mark — a grade
  14. cold — not warm
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. cold — an illness
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. ground — crushed
  22. wound — an injury
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. ground — a position

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