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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. stock — goods
  3. club — for golf
  4. pit — in a race
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. club — for dancing
  7. sharp — clever
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. march — the month
  11. stock — shares
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. march — music
  14. cold — not warm
  15. club — a group
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. march — the month
  18. pit — a hole

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