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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 124 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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  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. straw — a straw man
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. ground — a position
  4. stock — shares
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. deal — to handle
  7. board — a committee
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. ground — the earth
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. fine — all right
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. cold — an illness
  15. degree — temperature
  16. board — to get on
  17. fine — high quality
  18. cold — not warm
  19. stock — goods
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. degree — from a university
  22. ground — crushed
  23. deal — a big deal
  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