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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. fine — all right
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. shower — to wash
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. stock — goods
  8. wind — moving air
  9. stock — shares
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. wind — moving air
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. saw — the tool
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. saw — the tool
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. fine — high quality
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. shower — rain
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. kick — a thrill

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