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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. stock — goods
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. cold — an illness
  5. rest — what's left
  6. rest — what's left
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. board — a committee
  9. ball — a great time
  10. land — a country
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. stock — shares
  13. ball — a dance
  14. land — to come down
  15. board — to get on
  16. chest — a box
  17. chest — of your body
  18. rest — a break
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. cold — not warm
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. land — ground

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