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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 116 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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. pit — in a race
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. rest — what's left
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. kid — child
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. shower — rain
  12. cold — not warm
  13. stock — goods
  14. pit — a hole
  15. stock — shares
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. shower — to wash
  19. kid — to tease
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. cold — an illness
  22. rest — what's left
  23. rest — a break
  24. sharp — with an edge

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