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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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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 · ground · dip · spell · rest · stick · cold · bay

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. ground — a position
  3. cold — not warm
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. dip — to sink
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — an injury
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. spell — letters
  10. cold — an illness
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — a break
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. ground — crushed
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. spell — a short time
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. spell — magic
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. rest — what's left
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. ground — the earth

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