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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. rock — music
  4. stock — goods
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. cold — not warm
  7. hand — help
  8. plane — a tool
  9. pound — a weight
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. hand — in cards
  14. wind — moving air
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. rock — a stone
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. cold — an illness
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. wind — moving air
  23. stock — shares
  24. pound — for dogs

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