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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. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. season — of the year
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. game — wild animals
  5. cold — not warm
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. game — a match
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. season — in sport
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. shower — to wash
  13. scale — in music
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. stock — shares
  18. stock — goods
  19. wake — a trail
  20. shower — rain
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. cold — an illness
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. scale — size or range

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