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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. bat — the animal
  3. object — a thing
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. drill — a practice
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. stock — shares
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. drill — army training
  12. drill — the tool
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — not warm
  17. tube — a container
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. object — to protest
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. stock — goods
  23. tube — the underground
  24. bat — in an idiom

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