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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. ground — the earth
  3. ground — a position
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. file — a line of people
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — an injury
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. stock — goods
  10. rash — hasty
  11. ground — crushed
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. stock — shares
  15. file — a tool
  16. cold — not warm
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. rash — a series
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. file — a document

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