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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: cold · spring · shower · ground · face · jam · craft · deal

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  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. ground — crushed
  2. shower — rain
  3. spring — the season
  4. face — part of the head
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. craft — a skill
  7. cold — an illness
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. deal — to handle
  10. spring — a coil
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. ground — a position
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. spring — of water
  15. shower — to wash
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. face — to point toward
  18. cold — not warm
  19. face — to confront
  20. jam — to spread on bread
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. craft — boats
  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