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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. track — a path
  3. bat — the animal
  4. spring — of water
  5. pit — a hole
  6. spring — a coil
  7. pit — in a race
  8. club — for dancing
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. club — a group
  11. club — for golf
  12. track — a song
  13. stock — goods
  14. track — to keep track
  15. cold — an illness
  16. stock — shares
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. cold — not warm
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. spring — the season
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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