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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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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: nail · jam · wind · court · mate · cold · spell · ground

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. wind — moving air
  3. court — for sport
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. wind — moving air
  6. mate — to breed
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. spell — a short time
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. mate — a partner
  12. cold — an illness
  13. ground — a position
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. ground — the earth
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. court — of law
  18. ground — crushed
  19. spell — letters
  20. mate — a friend
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. court — of a king
  24. spell — magic

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