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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. cap — a hat
  3. wind — moving air
  4. stock — shares
  5. staff — employees
  6. wind — moving air
  7. staff — a stick
  8. stock — goods
  9. cold — not warm
  10. stand — to bear
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cap — a lid
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. cap — of ice
  18. staff — employees

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