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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. stock — shares
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. club — a group
  5. cell — a phone
  6. stock — goods
  7. face — to point toward
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. face — to confront
  11. spell — magic
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. club — for dancing
  14. cell — in biology
  15. cold — not warm
  16. capital — money
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. capital — a city
  19. spell — letters
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. club — for golf
  22. face — part of the head
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. cold — an illness

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