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

  1. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. mug — a face
  4. stock — shares
  5. date — the fruit
  6. cold — not warm
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. stock — goods
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. chest — a box
  12. chest — of your body
  13. cold — an illness
  14. mug — to rob
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. chest — of your body
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. lash — to lash out

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