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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 120 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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. cold — an illness
  3. stock — goods
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. staff — a stick
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. staff — employees
  8. cold — not warm
  9. stand — to bear
  10. last — finally
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. clip — a video
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. clip — for paper
  17. staff — employees
  18. pit — a hole
  19. last — final
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. stock — shares
  22. clip — to cut
  23. pit — in a race
  24. mine — for digging

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