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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 was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. cold — an illness
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. file — a tool
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. stock — goods
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. plane — a tool
  9. bear — to put up with
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. wind — moving air
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. file — a line of people
  14. bear — the animal
  15. file — a document
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. wind — moving air
  18. ball — a dance
  19. cold — not warm
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. bear — the animal
  22. stock — shares
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. plane — an aircraft

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