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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. mark — a grade
  3. stock — goods
  4. fine — high quality
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. mark — a trace
  7. land — to come down
  8. fine — all right
  9. game — wild animals
  10. ground — the earth
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. ground — crushed
  17. stock — shares
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. land — a country
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — not warm
  23. ground — a position
  24. game — a match

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