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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. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. cold — not warm
  4. can — a tin
  5. cold — an illness
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. stock — shares
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. chair — a leader
  11. kick — in football
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. can — a tin
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. scale — size or range
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. can — to be able to
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. scale — in music
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. kick — a thrill

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