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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 116 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. scale — in music
  4. stock — goods
  5. cold — an illness
  6. stock — shares
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. scale — size or range
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. cold — not warm
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. race — humankind
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. race — a contest
  17. bat — the animal
  18. race — the arms race

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