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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cell — in biology
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. stock — shares
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cold — an illness
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. cell — a phone
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. sharp — clever
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. tear — from crying
  18. band — a music group
  19. tear — from crying
  20. stock — goods
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. tear — to rip
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. band — a ring

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