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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  24. He refilled his coffee ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. stock — shares
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. cell — a phone
  6. cold — an illness
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. degree — an amount
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. plane — a tool
  11. wake — a trail
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. degree — from a university
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. stock — goods
  16. cell — in biology
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. date — the fruit
  20. cold — not warm
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. degree — temperature
  23. mug — a face
  24. mug — a cup

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