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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 120 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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. cold — an illness
  3. wind — moving air
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. cold — not warm
  6. mate — a partner
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. perch — the fish
  12. mate — a friend
  13. shower — to wash
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. shower — rain
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. stock — shares
  20. wind — moving air
  21. mate — to breed
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. perch — for a bird

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