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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. lean — thin
  3. mate — to breed
  4. mate — a friend
  5. cold — not warm
  6. tear — from crying
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. rock — a stone
  9. mate — a partner
  10. field — a subject
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. field — farmland
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. stock — shares
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. field — for sport
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. rock — music
  19. tear — from crying
  20. lean — to bend
  21. tear — to rip
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. stock — goods
  24. racket — for tennis

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