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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. stock — goods
  4. plane — a tool
  5. cold — not warm
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. shower — to wash
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. degree — temperature
  11. mug — a cup
  12. mug — to rob
  13. shower — rain
  14. cold — an illness
  15. mug — a face
  16. cell — in biology
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. wind — moving air
  21. cell — a phone
  22. stock — shares
  23. degree — from a university
  24. degree — an amount

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